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40-07-22 - The Lodger - with Herbert Marshall, Edmund Gwenn, Alfred Hitchcock was the director. -
This was the Audition for the show, however the show did not start airing on radio until June 17, 1942. Alfred Hitchcock originally directed the silent film version in 1926 and released on 14 February 1927 in London and on 10 June 1928 in New York City. The story concerns the hunt for a "Jack the Ripper" type of serial killer in London. The wrong man is accused of the crime and is forced to try to prove his innocence. 42-09-02 - The Hitchhiker - with Orson Welles, John Brown - Two men on a fishing trip pick up a hitchhiker, who turns out to be a psychopath who has committed multiple murders. 43-06-01 - Banquo's Chair - with Donald Crisp, John Loder, Hans Conried, Ian Wolfe, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black - A detective, tracking down an elusive murderer, uses ghosts and the victim to get his man. 43-06-15 - Last Night - with Kent Smith, Margo, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black - The story of a corpse in the rumble seat and a debt-ridden dude ranch. 43-08-21 - Sorry, Wrong Number - with Agnes Moorehead, Hans Conried, Ted Osborne as the Man In Black, Cathy Lewis - Tthe story of a woman who overhears a plot for murder. The Hollywood film version was adapted by Lucille Fletcher from her radio play. 43-09-02 - Singing Walls - with Preston Foster, Dane Clark, Ken Christy, Berry Kroeger as the Man In Black - A man has committed murder, or has he? Where does that music come from? 44-05-18 - Donovan's Brain (Part 1) - with Orson Welles, Hans Conried, Jerry Hausner, John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black - The novel is written in the form of diary entries by Dr. Patrick Cory, a middle-aged physician whose experiments at keeping a brain alive are subsidized by Cory's wealthy wife. Under investigation for tax evasion and criminal financial activities, millionaire megalomaniac W.H. Donovan crashes his private plane in the desert near the home of Dr. Cory. The physician is unable to save Donovan's life, but removes his brain on the chance that it might survive, placing the gray matter in an electrically charged, oxygenated saline solution within a glass tank. The brainwaves indicate that thought—and life—continue. Cory makes several futile attempts to communicate with it. Finally, one night Cory receives unconscious commands, jotting down a list of names in a handwriting not his own—it is Donovan's. Cory successfully attempts telepathic contact with Donovan's brain, much to the concern of Cory's occasional assistant, Dr. Schratt, an elderly alcoholic. Gradually, the malignant intelligence takes over Cory's personality, leaving him in an amnesiac fugue state when he awakes. The brain uses Cory to do his bidding, signing checks in Donovan's name, and continuing the magnate's illicit financial schemes. Cory becomes increasingly like the paranoid Donovan himself, his physique and manner morphing into the limping image of the departed criminal. Donovan's bidding culminates in an attempt to have Cory kill a young girl who stands in the way of his plans. Realizing he will soon have no control over his own body and mind, Cory devises a plan to destroy the brain during its quiescent period. Cory resists the brain's hypnotic power by repeating the rhyme "He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." With Dr. Schratt's help, he destroys the housing tank with an ax and leaves the brain of Donovan to die, thus ending his reign of madness. 44-05-25 - Donovan's Brain (Part 2) - with Orson Welles, Hans Conried, Jerry Hausner, John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black 44-06-01 - Fugue In C Minor - with Ida Lupino, Vincent Price, Bea Benaderet, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black - A ghost story about a huge pipe organ built throughout an entire house, and the reason that it tends to play itself. 44-10-05 - Dateline Lisbon - with John Hodiak, Joseph Kearns as the Man In Black, Cathy Lewis - During WWII, in a neutral port, Nazi and Allied spies abound. A young photographer becomes involved in intrigue when she accidentally photographs a lobby full of them. 45-05-31 - August Heat - with Ronald Colman, Dennis Hoey - On a scorching August day, artist James Clarence Withencroft draws a sketch: "a criminal in the dock immediately after the judge had pronounced sentence", wearing an expression "not so much one of horror as of utter, absolute collapse". That evening, the heat persisting, Withencroft walks for several hours until he wanders into the workshop of a stonemason, Charles Atkinson. Atkinson exactly resembles the drawing which Withencroft is still carrying in his pocket. To both men’s shock, the model headstone Atkinson has just finished carving bears Withencroft's full name, his date of birth, and that very day as date of death. The two men agree that – for fear of runaway carts, banana peels, fallen ladders – Withencroft should stay at Atkinson's place until midnight has passed and the date changed. The story ends with Withencroft writing the day's events as Atkinson sharpens some tools: "It is after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour. But the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad." 45-11-01 - The Dunwich Horror - with Ronald Colman, William Johnstone, Elliott Lewis - Wilbur Whateley is the son of a deformed albino mother and an unknown father (alluded to in passing by the mad Old Whateley as "Yog-Sothoth"), and strange events surround his birth and precocious development. Wilbur matures at an abnormal rate, reaching manhood within a decade. All the while, his sorcerer grandfather indoctrinates him into certain dark rituals and the study of witchcraft. The plot revolves around the desire of Wilbur to acquire an unabridged Latin version of the Necronomicon — his imperfect English copy is ill-suited for his dark purpose — so that he may open the way for the return of the mysterious "Old Ones", whose forerunner is the Outer God Yog-Sothoth. Thus, Wilbur and his grandfather have sequestered an unseen presence at their farmhouse; this being is connected somehow to Yog-Sothoth. Year by year, this unseen entity grows to monstrous proportions, requiring Wilbur and his patriarch to make frequent modifications to their residence. People begin to notice a trend of cattle mysteriously disappearing. Eventually, Wilbur's mother also disappears. By the time Wilbur's grandfather dies, the colossal entity occupies the whole interior of the farmhouse. 45-12-06 - I Won't Take a Minute - with Lee Bowman, Cathy Lewis, Joseph Kearns, William Johnstone, Wally Maher - A girl walks into an apartment to deliver a package, once in she is never seen again. 46-06-27 - Return Trip - with Elliott Reid, Cathy Lewis, Raymond Lawrence, Wally Maher - Four people are trapped in a snowbound bus. One of them is a homicidal maniac. 46-12-05 - House In Cypress Canyon - with Robert Taylor, Howard Duff, Cathy Lewis, Hans Conried, Jim Backus, Paul Frees, Wally Maher - This third anniversary show of the Suspense series presented a chilling story of the supernatural with werewolves, screams in the night and impossible happenings. 49-06-23 - Ghost Hunt - with Ralph Edwards, Joseph Kearns - A ghost story where a disc jockey spends the night in a haunted house with surprising results. 52-04-21 - The Diary of Captain Scott - with Herbert Marshall, Charles Davis, Joseph Kearns, Tudor Owen, June Whitley, Ben Wright - The story of the explorer who was second to arrive at the South Pole who died along with all his men, on the return journey. 52-12-22 - Arctic Rescue - with Joseph Cotten, Joseph Kearns, Lillian Buyeff, Norma Varden, Barney Phillips, Ben Wright, Clayton Post - A chronicle of an early voyage of exploration to the Arctic, and of a rescue by the "Christmas Star." 53-01-19 - Gold of the Adomar - with John Hodiak, Joseph Kearns, Clayton Post, Charles Calvert - A story about a treasure hunt aboard a sunken ship with a cargo of dynamite. 53-10-05 - Action - with Herbert Marshall, Ellen Morgan, Ben Wright, Parley Baer, Herb Butterfield, Richard Peel - A man who believes himself slowly dying who decides to go in style...by climbing a reverse slope on a mountain made of ice! 53-11-02 - Ordeal In Donner Pass - with Edmond O'Brien, Harry Bartell, Parley Baer, Paula Winslowe, Mary Lansing, John Dehner, Charlotte Lawrence, Joseph Kearns - The story of the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the Donner Party was slowed by following a new route called the Hastings Cutoff, which crossed Utah's Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake Desert. The rugged terrain and difficulties later encountered while traveling along the Humboldt River, in present-day Nevada, resulted in the loss of many cattle and wagons and contributed to divisions within the group. By the beginning of November 1846 the group had reached the Sierra Nevada where they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee (now Donner) Lake, high in the mountains. Their food supplies ran low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. Rescuers from Sacramento, California, attempted to reach the emigrants, but the first relief party did not arrive until the middle of February 1847, almost four months after the wagon train became trapped. Forty-eight of the 87 members of the party survived to reach Sacramento. 55-05-31 - Beirut by Sunrise - with Mary Jane Croft, Hy Averback, Don Diamond, Jack Kruschen, Ben Wright - A modern tourist looks for romance and intrigue in Beirut, and finds more than enough. 55-07-12 - Kaleidoscope - with William Conrad, John Dehner, Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, Stacy Harris, Howard McNear, Sam Edwards, Jonathan Ellis - Ray Bradbury was the suthor of this story where a space ship explodes, the surviving crew members have a last conversaton as they drift to their deaths. 55-08-02 - Black Death - with Edgar Barrier, William Conrad, Mary McGovern, Joesph Cranston, Barney Phillips - The story of a family pet tom cat that brings to anyone that brushes against it the Black Death. 55-08-16 - A Study In Wax - with William Conrad, Stacy Harris - The story of two men trapped in an Arctic blizzard with a phonograph record of "The Sabre Dance" to drive them mad. 55-10-11 - Heavens To Betsy - with Antony Ellis, Barbara Eiler, Barney Phillips, Byron Kane, Dick Beals, Howard McNear, Hy Averback, John Dehner (narrator), Truda Marson, Vic Perrin - When a flying saucer lands in his back yard, Henry Doyle is determined that a man's home is in his castle! 56-06-19 - A Sleeping Draught - with Ben Wright, Abraham Sofaer, Hans Conried, Stanley Jones, Raymond Lawrence, Charlie Lung, Eric Snowden - The story deals with a revolt aboard a prison ship to Australia. 56-10-09 - The Digger - with Herb Butterfield, Lillian Buyeff, Parley Baer, Charlie Lung, Ramsay Hill, Stan Jones, Torin Thatcher - Three men are in a mine shaft that's filling with smoke and man-eating rats! 56-11-11 - Three Skeleton Key - with John Dehner, Ben Wright, Vincent Price - Large rats storm over a lighthouse island. 57-02-10 - Door Of Gold - with Myron McCormick, Ramsay Hill, Shirley Mitchell, Jay Novello - A horror tale about two archeologists trapped in an Inca burial mound. 57-09-01 - The Man From Tomorrow - with Frank Lovejoy, Joan Banks, John Hoyt, Norman Alden, Peter Leeds - A story about a Korean war jet pilot chosen to develop his senses beyond mortal men. 57-10-27 - The Country of the Blind - with Raymond Burr, Ben Wright - The Country of the Blind" is a short story written by H. G. Wells While attempting to summit the unconquered crest of Parascotopetl, a fictitious mountain in Ecuador, a mountaineer named Nunez slips and falls down the far side of the mountain. At the end of his descent, down a snow-slope in the mountain's shadow, he finds a valley, cut off from the rest of the world on all sides by steep precipices. Unbeknown to Nunez, he has discovered the fabled Country of the Blind. The valley had been a haven for settlers fleeing the tyranny of Spanish rulers until an earthquake reshaped the surrounding mountains and cut it off forever from future explorers. The isolated community prospered over the years despite a disease that struck them early on, rendering all new-borns blind. As the blindness slowly spread over the generations, their remaining senses sharpened, and by the time the last sighted villager had died, the community had fully adapted to life without sight. Nunez descends into the valley and finds an unusual village with windowless houses and a network of paths, all bordered by kerbs. Upon discovering that everyone is blind, Nunez begins reciting to himself the refrain, "In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King". He realises that he can teach and rule them. But the villagers have no concept of sight and do not understand his attempts to explain this fifth sense to them. Frustrated, Nunez becomes angry but they calm him and he reluctantly submits to their way of life because returning to the outside world is impossible. 58-08-31 - The Whole Towns Sleeping - with Agnes Moorehead, William Conrad, Lurene Tuttle, Barney Phillips, Charlie Lung, Paula Winslowe - The author of this story was Ray Bradbury. The story is about a lonely spinster walking across a dark ravine at night with a killer on the loose. 58-12-28 - The Thirty Second of December - with Frank Lovejoy, Norman Alden, Joan Banks, Barney Phillips, Sam Pierce - A story about a man who buys an unusal watch with many dials, including one that travels through time. 59-01-04 - Don't Call Me Mother - with Agnes Moorehead, Cathy Lewis, James McCallion, Barney Phillips, Norman Alden - A story about a possessive mother who's determined to break up her son's marriage. 59-07-26 - Night Man - with Lawrence Dobkin, Marsha Hunt, Charles Seel - A woman is convinced that the elevator operator in her building is an escaped murderer who plans to kill her. 59-10-18 - The Crisis of Dirk Diamond - with Luis Van Rooten, Eric Dressler, Ian Martin, Maurice Tarplin, Larry Haines, Bernard Grant - A comic-strip cartoonist creates the ideal villain and winds up with a bad case of the funnies. 60-01-03 - Zero Hour - with Francy Myers, John Gibson, Ginger Jones - This story was written by Ray Bradbury. The story tells the tale of when the children take over the world at the "Zero Hour". 60-07-10 - Report from a Dead Planet - with Bernard Grant, Les Damon, John Larkin, William Mason, Phil Meader - A spaceship lands on a beautiful world and the space travelers find that all the inhabitants have vanished. 60-09-25 - Time on My Hands - with Santos Ortega, Robert Dryden, Walter Black (writer), Vera Allen, Marion Russell, Ted Osborne, Bill Lipton - A middle aged couple go back in time to kill Hitler, but don't quite succeed. 60-11-06 - The Green Lorelei - with Robert Readick, Elizabeth Lawrence, Ellen MacRae, John Gibson, Bill Smith, Phillip Dunkin - An impoverished mystery writer hears a beautiful woman's voice coming from a room in his boarding house. 61-08-06 - Bells - with Bill Lipton, Larry Robinson, Lawson Zerbe, Rosemary Rice, Toni Darnay - A couple moves into a house haunted by poltergeists, who like to use the telephone. 61-11-19 - The Black Door - with Ralph Camargo, Robert Readick - The story of the search for "The City Of The Fire God," and the strange secret behind that black door. 62-01-21 - Twenty Four Sixty Two - with Lawson Zerbe, Robert Dryden, Rosemary Rice, William Mason, Robert Randall - A frightening story of the future. 62-03-04 - Doom Machine - with Leon Janney, Cliff Carpenter, Eugene Francis, Bernard Grant, Elaine Rost - In the year 2500, an artificial brain named "Max" is created. Max's first job is to create unlimited energy from the sun. 62-03-11 - Heads You Lose - with William Redfield, Raymond Edward Johnson, Kermit Murdock, Santos Ortega, Melville Ruick, Jimsey Sommers - A private eye searches for Joshua Franklin, missing for many years. Mr. Franklin is found...sort of! 62-04-22 - The Curse of Kamoshek - with Ian Martin, Raymond Edward Johnson, Mercer McLeod, Guy Repp, John Stone, John Thomas - A bone from an ancient Egyptian, the curse upon it, and a thoroughly miserable person lead to mayhem. 62-04-29 - Blackbeards Ace - with Elaine Rost, Robert Dryden, John Thomas - A house seems to be haunted by the ghosts of pirates. When a couple decides to spend a week in the house, the ghosts decide to make contact. 62-06-03 - Stand In for Murder - with Bob Redick, Bill Lipton, Jack Grimes - An illegal impersonation. 62-06-17 - The Lunatic Hour - with Les Damon, Dick Keats, George Matthews, Donald Buka, Rosemary Rice - A railroad station-master is haunted by the ghost of an engineer who died ten years ago. 62-09-02 - The Death of Alexander Jordan - with William Mason, Edgar Stehli, Connie Lembcke - A week after the death of Uncle Alex, his heirs receive a phone call from "The Great Beyond!" 62-09-09 - A Strange Day in May - with William Mason, Maurice Tarplin, Bill Smith, Toni Darnay, Reynold Osborne, Bill Lipton, Herb Duncan - A story about an astronaut who returns to a very puzzling Earth or does he? |
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 Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors and director/producers. There were a few rules which were followed for all but a handful of episodes: the protagonist was usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation; solutions were "withheld until the last possible second"; and evildoers were punished in the end. The program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Among its science fiction entries were "The Man who Tried to Save Lincoln" (a time travel fantasy) and an adaptation of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain, as well as an adaptation of an H. P. Lovecraft short story, "The Dunwich Horror". Alfred Hitchcock directed its audition show (for the CBS summer series Forecast). This was an adaptation of "The Lodger," a story Hitchcock had filmed in 1926 with Ivor Novello. Martin Grams, Jr., author of Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and Chills, described the Forecast origin of Suspense: On the second presentation of July 22, 1940, Forecast offered a mystery/horror show titled Suspense. With the co-operation of his producer Walter Wanger, Alfred Hitchcock received the honor of directing his first radio show for the American public. The condition agreed upon for Hitchcock's appearance was that CBS make a pitch to the listening audience about his and Wanger's latest film, Foreign Correspondent. To add some flavour to the deal, Wanger threw in Edmund Gwenn and Herbert Marshall as part of the package. All three men (including Hitch) would be seen in the upcoming film, which was due for a theatrical release the next month. Both Marshall and Hitchcock decided on the same story to bring to the airwaves, which happened to be a favorite of both of them: Marie Belloc Lowndes' "The Lodger." Alfred Hitchcock had filmed this story for Gainsborough in 1926, and since then it had remained as one of his favorites. Herbert Marshall portrayed the mysterious lodger, and co-starring with him were Edmund Gwenn and character actress Lurene Tuttle as the rooming-house keepers who start to suspect that their new boarder might be the notorious Jack-the-Ripper. [Gwenn was actually repeating the role taken in the 1926 film by his brother, Arthur Chesney. And Tuttle would work again with Hitchcock nearly 20 years later, playing Mrs. Al Chambers in Psycho.] Character actor Joseph Kearns also had a small part in the drama, and Wilbur Hatch, head musician for CBS Radio at the time, composed and conducted the music specially for the program. Adapting the script to radio was not a great technical challenge for Hitchcock, and he cleverly decided to hold back the ending of the story from the listening audience in order to keep them in suspense themselves. This way, if the audience's curiosity got the better of them, they would write in to the network to find out whether the mysterious lodger was in fact Jack the Ripper. For the next few weeks, hundreds of letters came in from faithful listeners asking how the story ended. Actually a few wrote threats claiming that it was "indecent" and "immoral" to present such a production without giving the solution. |
| Jack Benny | Bob Hope | Bing Crosby | Fibber McGee & Molly |
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