1943-02-16 In Fear and Trembling

If the phrase “in fear and trembling” sounds familiar, it’s used in two Biblical passages Philippians 2:12 which itself is likely a reference Psalms 55:5. Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard used the title “Fear and Trembling” in a treatise about anxiety. Therefore, many in the listening audience of 1943 would have been familiar with the phrase from a variety of perspectives.

Mary Astor is in the lead role, making it the second consecutive week that an actor from The Maltese Falcon starred on Suspense. It would be her only appearance on the series, as it was for Sydney Greenstreet. She plays Lucia Durant who is having anxiety issues, and her husband suggests a “tonic” that has the poison strychnine as an ingredient. The concept of a “tonic” was big that then to supposedly cure most any kind of malady, and they could contain most anything. For most, one of the key ingredients would be alcohol; some of the tonics in the 1800s and early 1900s had a high percentage of alcohol. But strychnine seems to be a step too far, because it’s a pesticide. At least now it is... around the turn of the Twentieth Century there were many who still considered it to be a performance enhancer for people who were lethargic. The dangers of the chemical were becoming better known by the time of this broadcast. So while it seems really strange because we know it as a pesticide and poison today, there would have been enough people who still heard about it as a treatment for being “tired” and the plausibility of such an ingredient in a tonic was not as crazy as it would sound today. If that’s not enough to consider in this story, there’s a love triangle going on.

J. Donald Wilson, creator of The Whistler, wrote this story for that very program. It aired there on the CBS Pacific Network only with the title Jealousy on 1942-09-27. Because that program was not broadcast nationally, using it on Suspense a little more than four months later was not a problem.

After this episode, Suspense returns to New York for a few weeks before settling down in California and its illustrious run.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP0216

THE CAST

MARY ASTOR (Lucia Durant), Fred MacKaye (Gil Durant), Lou Merrill (Dr. Hanby), Jane Morgan (Miss Benson), Ken Christy (Police Capt. Drake), unknown (Beverly), Joe Kearns (Man in Black)

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1943-02-09 The Hangman Won't Wait (partial)

If John Dickson Carr was on Suspense, it was likely that one of his characters, Dr. Gideon Fell, would be there too. Fourteen of the twenty-four novels for this character were published by the time of this broadcast. The plotline has a women waking from amnesia and finding herself in a jail cell, and learning that she is scheduled for execution the next morning.

Unfortunately, only the first half of the broadcast is available. But the script survives, and there have been two recreations of the program, and a 1944 performance on the BBC’s Appointment with Fear has survived.

This Suspense presentation stars Sidney Greenstreet. He focused on theatrical work and did not make his first film until 1941, and became known for his role in The Maltese Falcon. He didn’t make radio appearances, as best can be detected, until 1943. Below is a publicity shot from his work as the star of The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe in 1950.

The episode was reviewed in the Variety issue of 1943-02-17. It was not well-received:

Sydney Greensreet’s knack for creating terrifying fat men was wasted Tuesday evening on the CBS 30 minute sustainer Suspense. The program's thriller, The Hangman Won't Wait, opened impressively, but the illusion soon vanished. The character of Dr. Gideon Fell, sleuth and criminologist supreme, offered the actor little scope for his particular talent. Although suspense is the raison d'etre of this Hollywood beamed stanza, there was little of that precious ingredient apparent.

This was a continuing pattern. Suspense was not getting good reviews in the Carr era. He was a successful big-name author, but the process seemed to have difficulties resonating with the critics and the listening audience.

The performance of the script can be heard in the recording of the Appointment with Fear episode. It was named The Clock Strikes Eight and was broadcast 1944-05-18. The recording has some quality issues, but can still be enjoyed.

We hope that the second disc of the Suspense episode will be found, but it was likely damaged or broken and lost.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430209

THE CAST

SYDNEY GREENSTREET (Dr. Gideon Fell), Vicki Marsden? (Helen Barton), unknown (Anna), Raymond Lawrence (Warder Harris), Gloria Gordon (Matron), unknown (Colonel Andrews), Joe Kearns (Man in Black), others

Along with the half recording and the Appointment with Fear episode, there is one of the newer presentations from Blue Hours Productions and their Suspense series. We thank producer John C. Alsedek for allowing us to post the recording in the Internet Archive page.

There is also a presentation of the script by American Radio Theater. The link to their recording is https://amerad.libsyn.com/suspense-hangman-wontwait

The story was also included in the Suspense comic book, issue #1. The title was changed to "Here Comes the Hangman" and Dr. Fell's name is changed.

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1943-02-02 The Doctor Prescribed Death

The episode was originally planned with a different title, as noted in the Long Beach CA Independent of 1943-02-02:

"The Boomerang" is the title of the nerve-stirring tale which will star villain Bela Lugosi on KNX tonight at 6:30. Written by J. Donald Wilson, whose psychological studies in crime have long thrilled listeners to his Sunday mystery "The Whistler." The story concerns a half-mad psychologist whose hair-raising theories on suicide and murder get him into a precarious situation.

J. Donald Wilson, as mentioned above, was on the team that created The Whistler, heard only on the CBS Pacific Network at this time. This script was used on that series about 17 months later, on 1944-06-11. In 1946, The Whistler broadcast a performance titled Boomerang, but it was a much different story.

This is likely an example of William Spier coming up with a more compelling title than what was submitted. The “Dead Ernest” original title was “Articles of Death,” and “Sorry, Wrong Number” was originally “She Overheard Death Speaking.” There are many changed and improved titles through Suspense history in the Spier period.

Bela Lugosi was a horror movie legend, especially for Dracula, but that downplays a career that was more varied than that, especially in the 1920s. He had complicated career and a very complicated personal life. It is summarized well at Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi

Lugosi was not on radio often. RadioGoldindex has a list of surviving recordings where he appeared.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430202

THE CAST

BELA LUGOSI (Dr. Antonio Basile), Lurene Tuttle (Gladys Tanner), Lou Merrill (Morton Hellman / Lt. Davis), Jeanne Bates? (Myra Basile), Ken Christy (Sergeant Rankin), Joe Kearns (Man in Black)

Keith Scott notes that this was the first of three weeks for Suspense originating from Columbia Square in Hollywood. Joseph Kearns was cast as The Man in Black, and it seemed like he was trying to force his voice to emulate Ted Osborne’s delivery; Kearns would portray the “Man in Black” persona regularly just weeks later in a more natural voice and style.

The casting information for the Hollywood productions is usually more complete than the New York productions.

In addition to this appearance on radio Suspense, he appeared on the TV version of the series six years later in A Cask Of Amontillado. It can be viewed at https://youtu.be/jBJhwIJBvPs where the supporting cast is Romney Brent, Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian), and Frank Marth (too many shows to mention, including Star Trek and The Honeymooners).

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1943-01-26 Death Went Along for the Ride (partial)

This is the surviving recording of the second half of this episode. The script was used again, but was extensively re-written. This original production was written by Henry Denker and Ralph Berkey.

An innocent driver keeps getting hotel reservations and is soon involved with a criminal gang.

The broadcast stars Ralph Bellamy. He was heading toward starring role in a Broadway play Tomorrow the World which would open in April (it had 500 performances but he would eventually be replaced by Conrad Nagel). His co-star was Shirley Booth, and the cast included (“Little”) Skippy Homeier and Joyce Van Patten. Bellamy had a boost to his late-life career by appearing in Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd in 1982.

This 1943 performance of Death Went Along for the Ride is somewhat different than the 1944 one that has been in circulation for decades.

The Cobalt Club is an online forum where classic radio fans share recordings but also collaborate in projects that research media history and individual series and programs. When this recording was analyzed, Cobalt Club member “chasedad” noted some important characteristics of this part 2 of the broadcast when compared to the new performance of 1944-04-27. He states:

One of the most obvious differences is the narration from the "Man in Black" throughout this 1943 version, which is largely unnecessary anyway and easily removed via some changes to the dialogue. But the 1944 version was a major rewrite in other ways, including an entire scene set at a carnival in the 1943 broadcast but was edited out of the 1944 one. This could be because of the addition of Roma Wines commercials made it necessary to trim the script's length. It’s also possible it was removed because it was not critical to the story. The one-armed man who menaces Gavery in the 1943 story makes it all the way to the end of the program. In the 1944 production, the scene in the first half of the where Javery runs the one-armed man's car off the road and kills him was added and the plotline changed accordingly. There were changes to the dialogue throughout, including the addition of a new closing line in the 1944 version. In the 1943 version the villain is killed exclusively through his own stupidity. In the 1944 version, however, Gavery lends a hand in that by throwing open a window curtain at a crucial moment.

His comments led us to find the script for the 1944 broadcast since the 1943 one is not available. The 1943 script was written by Henry Denker and Ralph Berkley, as mentioned above and announced at the close of this recording. The 1944 script adds Robert Richards to the credits. He was William Spier’s right hand when it came to editing and re-writing, and his addition to the 1944 script credits makes it clear that is what happened.

“Chasedad” continues:

The 1943 version doesn't sound well-rehearsed. At the 8:00 mark Bellamy and his scene partner start in delivering their dialogue in a new scene, only to have Ted Osborne come in with his narration on top of them. The two actors stop (or the technicians killed their mikes) while Osborne finishes the narration, after which the actors go back and start their scene again.

This part 2 recording begins, as one would expect, about halfway into the script.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430126

THE CAST

RALPH BELLAMY (George Gavery), Ted Osborne, others

No production records are available to provide detailed cast information.

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1943-01-19 The Devil's Saint

Peter Lorre appears again in the John Dickson Carr story about a bedroom where its guests are murdered. A young woman tells her uncle that she plans to marry a man she met just days ago. The uncle invites the man to stay at their chateau in the “Tapestry Room,” which sounds interesting enough. He wants to scare the man away, and the man wants to prove his love for his intended bride.

The story was also adapted for the comic book Super-Magician Comics. It appeared in issue #25, with a cover date of May 1944. The main feature of the comic book was heroic stories about Blackstone the Magician. This was the only Suspense story used in the comic book series. (A PDF of the story is on the same Internet Archive page as the episode recording).

This recording is the last complete one before Suspense traveled for three weeks in Hollywood to start to set up its relocation. The final New York program would be on 1943-04-06.

Suspense would return to New York for three broadcasts in 1947 and a single broadcast in 1953. The series would move back to New York at the end of Summer 1959 until its final episode. Suspense was moving to Hollywood to have better access to big stars; when it moved back to New York it was to save money. By that time, the big stars were no longer doing radio except for a few notables, such as Vincent Price. In the meantime, Suspense would be known for its lavish budgets and impressive productions. It took a while to hit its stride, as the series was moving to Hollywood and still lacked a sponsor.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430119

THE CAST

PETER LORRE (Count Stefan Kohari), Gertrude Warner (Ilona), Ted Osborne (Man in Black), others

The script was used in the BBC’s Appointment with Fear series on 1943-10-21; it was also re-used on the 1948-12-26 Cabin B-13 series as The Sleep of Death.

(Special thanks to Craig Wichman for his information about Super-Magician Comics).

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1943-01-12 The Pit and the Pendulum

This is the first performance of the Edgar Allan Poe classic story about the Spanish Inquisition, adapted by John Dickson Carr. It is also the first appearance of “The Man in Black” as the signature voice of Suspense. The story would be used on Suspense two additional times.

Why did Suspense need a “Man in Black”? They obviously didn’t, because the character only lasted for 26 months. Every major mystery program had such a figure. The Witch’s Tale had “Nancy, the Old Witch,” Inner Sanctum had “Raymond, Your Host,” Molle Mystery Theater had “Geoffrey Barnes,” and The Whistler had… well, … “The Whistler”! It was all part of the branding of radio series, designed to make each series distinctive. While it was the style of the times, Suspense let it go after its Roma Wines sponsorship was in over a year old and let the Roma spokesman and a show announcer handle making the show sound distinctive. Having a “Man in Black” just complicated things by that point.

The lead actor for this episode was Henry Hull. He was an accomplished actor whose first Broadway role was in 1911. He went to Hollywood for movie work and was in touring companies, and Broadway for decades. Horror fans recognize him as the lead actor in the 1936 Werewolf of London.

Hull’s Wikipedia has the details of his long career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hull

It is fitting that Hull is in the lead for this Poe story. Hull played Poe on Broadway in the short-lived biographical “Plumes in the Dust” in November 1936… which lasted only 11 performances.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430112

THE CAST

HENRY HULL (Jean D’Albret), Berry Kroeger (Espila the Inquisitor), Mercedes McCambridge (Beatrice), Alfred Shirley, Luis Van Rooten?, Ted Osborne (Man in Black)

The script was also used in the BBC Appointment with Fear series 1943-09-18.

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1943-01-05 Nothing Up My Sleeve

John Dickson Carr’s script stars Elissa Landi who portrays a woman anxious to prove her fiance to be innocent of a robbery at the bank where he works. Somehow, she has to learn where the money is hidden to show his innocence. $88,000 is stolen. That’s more than $1.5 million in US dollars in 2022.

Landi was a stage and movie star in the 1920s and 1930s. She was born in Italy, worked in Europe and the British stage, and then in New York and Hollywood. Her best-known role near the end of her movie career was in the 1936 After the Thin Man. She then mainly concentrated on her passion for writing. Unfortunately, she died of cancer at age 43 in 1948.

George Coulouris, on the other hand, had a very long career and life on stage, radio, movies, and television in his native Britain and Hollywood (even in 1960s episodes of Doctor Who!). He was a member of the Mercury Theater and appeared in Citizen Kane. (It is amazing how Orson Welles’ influence from a business and production perspective is so prominent in the background of Suspense and radio drama in general). 

1943-01-05 Philadelphia PA Inquirer
Note how Suspense is characterized as a “whodunit” in the advertising;
in later years we’d know "who did it" as many plotlines shifted to how they
extricated themselves out of trouble.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP430105

THE CAST

GEORGE COULOURIS (Derek Rolfe), ELISSA LANDI (Dorothy Dale), Ted Osborne (Signature Voice), Joseph Julian, others

Publicity for the episode claimed that the story was “written for” Landi and Coulouris. This was a common theme in radio promotion to make the plays seem more exclusive and more unique. Spier would often be quoted as saying that his strategy was to find good scripts first, then work on the casting.

Many Hollywood actors were not comfortable working in radio, so matching the right script with their abilities was important to result in a convincing and problem-free performance. As Suspense developed, good scripts and music that matched the flow and emotions of the story would often overcome issues with lesser skilled radio performers. This was not one of Carr’s better stories, and some of the experience with Carr’s story variability led to Suspense abandoning the idea of having a staff writer. Instead, they would focus on independent story ideas from freelance writers enhanced by a full time staff editor. The process was led by Spier’s skills in editing and supervising the show’s music. Robert L. Richards would supply the Suspense editorial savvy as well as his own scripts. This gave the show a consistency of approach that other series did not have.

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