The closing music of the series that was used after the Auto-Lite sponsorship lapsed was quite different than listeners had become accustomed to. It became known, among series enthusiasts of the hobby era at least, as "The Suspense March." It was first heard in 1946 in The Man Who Thought He Was Edward G Robinson. Background about that episode is at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/08/1946-10-17-man-who-thought-he-was.html It is not known how it was referred to at the time it was used.
It was likely composed by series musical director Lucien Moraweck for that 1946 episode alone. It was used as the closing music by Elliott Lewis starting with Steel River Prison Break 1951-09-03. (That episode was written by William N. Robson under name "William Norman." That pseudonym was used to get the script approved because of the Red Channels issues. He used "Christopher Anthony" on other scripts, too).
When Suspense lost its sponsor, it switched to sustaining format, but retained its 24:30 or 29:30 time allotment (depending on its time slot). CBS agreed to run the "March" as the last 40 seconds of the broadcasts so the affiliate stations could make whatever announcements they needed to with that playing in the background. That meant that the allotment might have been 29:30 as usual, but the actual Suspense production was 28:50 + those 40 seconds.
It was music already owned by CBS, and it proved to be more enduring a part of the series than ever anticipated. It was composed for just that one particular episode.
The last time it was used on the network broadcasts was the final broadcast of Antony Ellis as producer. That was 1956-10-16 The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott.
William N. Robson, as the new producer, changed it back to the original theme written by Bernard Herrmann with his second episode, Red Cloud Mesa. His first episode, The Doll, used music specifically composed for that episode, and continued to use it as the closing announcements were made and to conclude the broadcast. How strange: the first use of "The Suspense March" was on an episode penned by Robson, and then he was the one who pulled the plug on it five years later.
The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) continued to use the "March" as filler. After the drama, it sometimes seems to play forever... or longer.
(Hat tip and thanks: This topic is from a question asked on the Old Time Radio Researchers Facebook Group page by Joshua Gideon Kester on 2025-02-02. John Barker [aka chasedad at the Cobalt Club forum] provided the correct start date of the theme).
