1947 marked the end of an era on Suspense as Roma Wines (“that’s R-O-M-A”) ended its sponsorship of the program. But before it parted ways with “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” it brought another big line-up of stars to the microphone, and this week we’ll hear my favorite episodes from the year. Van Heflin stars as an executive who resorts to less than ethical methods to climb the corporate ladder in “Three Blind Mice” (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947). Howard da Silva plays a dogged cop out to prove Jack Webb is guilty of murder in Cornell Woolrich’s “You Take Ballistics” (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947). Kirk Douglas stars in two shows - first as a man who finds murder a more efficient method of divorce in “Community Property” (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947) and then as an author who discovers a lost work of Edgar Allan Poe and passes it off as his own in “The Story of Markham’s Death” (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947). Finally, Ozzie and Harriet star as a married couple who take steps to accelerate the collection of their inheritance from an ailing uncle in “Too Little to Live On” (originally aired on CBS on December 26, 1947).
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BONUS - More Favorites from '46
I had too many favorite 1946 Suspense shows for one episode! In this bonus installment, I'm sharing five more of my most-loved "tales well calculated" from '46. Brian Donlevy stars as Duncan Maclain, the blind detective created by Baynard Kendrick in an adaptation of Kendrick's mystery "Out of Control" (originally aired on CBS on March 28, 1946). Agnes Moorehead - the first lady of Suspense - stars in "Post Mortem," a story from Cornell Woolrich about a dead husband and a lottery ticket (originally aired on CBS on April 4, 1946). An all-star cast of Hollywood radio players presents the story of a comatose man who's got a date with the undertaker in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1946). Lloyd Nolan and Vincent Price head to the woods but only one of them is coming home in "Hunting Trip" (orginally aired on CBS on September 12, 1946). And Joseph Cotten is plagued by the image of a dead body that only he can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946).
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Episode 417 - Favorites from 1946
Not-so perfect alibis, a missing wife, and some supernatural horrors are on deck with my favorite Suspense episodes from 1946. Joseph Cotten commits an impulsive murder and has to reverse engineer an alibi in "Crime Without Passion" (originally aired on CBS on May 2, 1946), and J. Carrol Naish hopes he can disappear into the crowd after killing his wife in "Commuter's Ticket" (originally aired on CBS on August 1, 1946). Robert Young searches for his wife when she leaves after a fight - and disappears - in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on September 2, 1946). Brian Donlevy is a psychiatrist whose new patient is a human lie detector in "Lazarus Walks" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1946), and Robert Taylor stars in what may be the scariest Suspense story ever - "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946).
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Episode 416 - Favorites from 1945
It's a mix of two-handers, adaptations, comedy, mystery, and horror with my favorite Suspense shows from 1945! Joseph Cotten is hunted by J. Carrol Naish in "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1945), and William Bendix hunts for a missing necklace in "Pearls are a Nuisance" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1945). John Payne is a small town police chief in hot water in "Two Sharp Knives" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1945), and J. Carrol Naish is a blind cobbler with an ear for murder in "Footfalls" (originally aired on CBS on July 12, 1945). A customer from hell may run Joseph Kearns out of business in "Short Order" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1945), and a monster from hell may destroy the world - and Ronald Colman - in "The Dunwich Horror" (originally aired on CBS on November 1, 1945).
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Episode 415 - Favorites from 1944
Our journey back through the years of Suspense continues with my favorite episodes from 1944. Lucille Ball is a taxi dancer who hopes to avoid a murderous dance partner in “Dime a Dance” (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944), and Charles Ruggles suspects his new housekeeper may be too good to be true in “Suspicion” (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944). Orson Welles stars in a rare two-part Suspense science fiction drama “Donovan’s Brain” (originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944), and Vincent Price and Ida Lupino co-star in “Fugue in C Minor,” a Gothic horror drama from the pen of Lucille Fletcher (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944). Charles Laughton encounters a strange man who claims to have invented an undetectable method for murder in “The Man Who Knew How” (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1944), and Gene Kelly enjoys a seemingly supernatural streak of luck…until he doesn’t in “The Man Who Couldn’t Lose” (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1944).
Presenting the biggest legends of Hollywood starring in "Suspense," radio's outstanding theater of thrills! Each week, we'll hear two chillers from this old time radio classic featuring one of the all-time great stars of stage and screen.
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