1960-01-24 Turn About

Leonard Stone stars in a Jay Bennett story about a man with distorted ideas of justice. A close friend of long standing, a publicly respected stock broker, invites himself to the home of the District Attorney for dinner. The DA’s wife cook’s the man’s favorite meal, even though it is on short notice, showing how close the relationship of these men is. After an evening of congeniality, he announces that he is the perpetrator of a vengeful homicide the DA is investigating. He demands that a suspect now being held be prosecuted by the DA. He kills the family cat… and explains that is what can happen to them if he does not get what he wants. He seizes the wife and son as hostages until the innocent man has been framed and sentenced to death. The mother of the framed man has something to say about it in the surprising conclusion.

This story is adapted and revised from a script for Alfred Hitchcock Presents by Bennett and Sarett Tobias, My Brother, Richard that was broadcast on 1957-01-20. Bennett was the writer of Grand Central Station’s famous holiday story Miracle for Christmas. He also wrote for Bulldog Drummond, The Falcon, The Kate Smith Show, and others. He was wrote many television plays for many series in the 1950s. In his later career, Bennett wrote juvenile mystery novels and won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America in the 1970s.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, January 19, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is very listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#770) has cleaner sound and is the preferred one of the two.

The title on the script is “Turn About,” in two words. It was in newspapers as “Turnabout,” indicating that CBS publicity had the incorrect title.

Leonard Stone was appearing on Broadway and doing television work at the time of this broadcast. Through the 1960s and 1970s he was one of those very busy actors who was in numerous productions but no one in the public really knew who he was. He was one of those actors who is in the category of “It’s that guy… who was in that thing…” This episode was his only documented radio performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Stone

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600124

THE CAST

Leonard Stone (Walter Carlton), Neil Fitzgerald (Robert), Raymond Edward Johnson (Judge), Larry Haines (Cobb), Katharine Emmet (Mother Swenson), Ginger Jones (Emily Ross), Peter Lazer (Billy Ross), Melville Ruick (Martin Ross), Frank Milano (cat)

Roles of Robert Donley (Swenson), Arthur Hughes (Clerk) were cut from the script or deleted from the recording in editing in preparation for broadcast.

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1960-01-17 The Time, the Place and the Death

Eric Dressler plays “Henry,” a man who believes the prognostication of a fortune teller and prepares for the end of his life. The script is by Peter Fernandez, who also appears in the production. Henry has consulted fortune tellers on every decision he has had to make in his life, including his financial investments and romances. He is wealthy, happy and submissive to the demands of destiny. Therefore, he docilely accepts the “inevitable,” but his confidence in the hand of fate eventually suffers a shock as he makes final preparations for leaving this world. He sets the time, the place, and the specific fatal accident he will have walking down a staircase with a broken step. Friends Irene and Joseph are skeptical of it all, until Joseph learns how serious he actually is. Irene gasps in shock when Joseph tells her that Henry will be leaving all his money to her. When Joseph suggests that they kill him to be sure she gets the money (with some for him, of course), she suddenly moves from shock to interest in making it happen. They decide to poison him with arsenic. When Henry arrives to visit, they offer him a drink, but he refuses. He’s just three minutes away from the proscribed time to descend the staircase… and he survives because he’s too careful walking down the stairs! Now he thinks he will live forever. It’s an amusing end to an outlandish story.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, January 12, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#769) has richer sound and is the preferred one of the two.

This script was re-used for the ABC Radio series Theatre 5, episode #132, which was broadcast on 1965-02-02.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600117

THE CAST

Eric Dressler (Henry), Bryna Raeburn (the Signora Eugenia), Claudia Morgan (Irene), Peter Fernandez (Salesman), Maurice Tarplin (Rudy), Mercer MacLeod (Joseph), Dwight Weist (Clerk), Edwin Wolfe (Caretaker)

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1960-01-10 The Long Night (home invasion storyline, not the aviation story)

IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS TITLE WAS USED BEFORE ON SUSPENSE. THIS 1960 PRODUCTION IS A MUCH DIFFERENT STORY THAN THE CLASSIC AVIATION PLAY BY LOWELL BLANTON THAT STARRED FRANK LOVEJOY.

Bill Adams and Ellen McRae star as a married couple whose home is invaded by an escaped psychopathic killer. The script was by Walter Black, who is also in the cast. Shortly after an alarm is spread through an isolated community that warns citizens that a psychopathic killer has escaped from a nearby institution, a man claiming to be a sheriff's assistant enters the home of an elderly, reputedly wealthy farmer and his young wife. Once inside, the man identifies himself as the armed maniac and demands shelter and money to escape. Another couple having car trouble was already innocently at the home to call for help. The maniac terrorizes them all and threatens them to cooperate or else he will become violent. He has heard that the farmer has a lot of money saved and his prudent and simple life belies significant wealth. Everything begins to unravel as the truth about the intruder is realized with a radio news report. The tension of the situation leads to an unexpected climax.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, January 5, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:00pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

“Uncle” Bill Adams was the “chief pretender” on the long-running popular radio children’s series Let’s Pretend.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is very listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#768) has richer sound and is the preferred one of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600110

THE CAST

Ellen McRae (Betty Lou Meeker), Bill Adams (Vern Meeker), Sam Gray (“George Porter” / Bill), Charlotte Manson (Patricia Jeffries), Herb Duncan (Tom Jeffries / newscaster), Walter Black (sheriff)

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1960-01-03 Zero Hour

Nine-year-old Francie Myers stars in this third Suspense production of the favorite Ray Bradbury story that was first presented on Escape. The story was adapted by Antony Ellis. The plot involves an invasion of Earth that relies on the cooperation of children and the cluelessness of their parents.

1955-04-05 Isa Ashdown: Details about the first Suspense broadcast starring Isa Ashdown and further background of the story can be found at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2024/12/suspense-1955-04-05-zero-hour.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP550405 and is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed.

1958-05-18 Evelyn Rudie: Details about the second broadcast and Rudie’s second series appearance (after Dog Star a few months prior)and further background of the story can be found at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/05/1958-05-18-zero-hour.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP580518 and is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed.

“Francie Myers” was also appearing on early television as a child actor and moved on to have mainly television roles billed as “Fran Myers.” She eventually had a long and successful career writing network TV soap operas, such as Days of Our Lives and Another World, and also acted in The Guiding Light.

The program was recorded on Tuesday, December 29, 1959. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:00pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

Two recordings have survived. The network recording is a WROW aircheck and is very listenable. The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#767) has much richer sound and is the preferred one of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600103

THE CAST

Francie Myers (Mink Morris), John Gibson (Henry), Ginger Jones (Mrs. Morris), Sarah Fussell (Anna, Mink’s Friend), Vivian Smolen (Helen)

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1959-12-27 Moonlight Sail

Frankie Thomas stars in this William N. Robson script as “Steve,” a charter boat captain on the French Riviera. He is assisted in his adventures by his first mate, Marius. Steve is hired by a man named “Jacques” for an “out and back” two-hour moonlight sail with a young woman. It’s implied to be a romantic excursion, but when the man gets on board with the woman, things seem different, and the itinerary is changed south toward Africa. When the man’s attention is diverted, the woman, Adele, approaches Steve in a panic, asking where here fiancé, Chuck Dawson, is. The man grabs her and tells her to she will know “everything in good time.” The man is soon seen trying to push the woman overboard. Steve turns the boat around and heads back to shore. It is learned that Adele is being kidnapped and the man hired by Chuck’s mother to disrupt her marriage intentions with Chuck. The mother is a wealthy woman, and does not want Adele to marry Chuck, and may have hired the man to kill her! Steve sneaks near the home of the mother, and overhears her speaking with Jacques, discussing a new plan to throw Adele out of the balcony of her tall building! Steve finds Adele and explains she is in danger, and that he knows Chuck is fine and is at the casino. He lowers her by rope from her room to Marius who takes her to safety. In the meantime, Jacques sneaks into the room expecting to throw Adele over the balcony, but Steve immobilizes him and sends him to the fate that Jacques planned for Adele. Steve climbs down the rope and joins Marius and Adele at the boat, and they head to the casino. Adele finally sees Chuck, and Steve tells them to find a place to get married before the mother has a chance to act against them. And they all live happily ever after, it seems.

Moonlight Sail was most definitely a script Robson wrote when he was exiled from CBS and was producing the Errol Flynn radio series The Modern Adventures of Casanova for Mutual. Mutual was not skilled in its publicity efforts. The series is listed in timetables but there is rarely and plotline information. Reviews for the series were rather... gruesome. The episodes were panned for their light and outlandish plots, and this episode is a good example of it.

No script can be found to identify the program recording date.

There are two surviving recordings. The network aircheck is very good. There is an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#766) that is the better of the two.

Thomas is making his third Suspense appearance with this as his only starring role. He was a successful child actor and continued his career, unlike many child performers, well into adulthood. He was very active in early television. He became known among nostalgia fans for his television role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. He was also a writer, and composed scripts for the ABC Radio series Theatre 5.

Also in the cast is Joan Lazer, the older sister of Peter Lazer, who starred in the 1959-08-30 episode A Matter of Execution. Joan had a slightly longer radio career than Peter, and also made many appearances on the series Eternal Light.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP591227

THE CAST

Frank Thomas, Jr. (Steve), Luis Van Rooten (Jacques), Jim Boles, Joan Lazer (Adele), Ethel Waite Owen (Mrs. Dawson), Jack Manning (Chuck), Sam Raskyn (customs guard), Guy Repp (croupier)

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1959-12-20 A Korean Christmas Carol

Bill Lipton stars in a script George Bamber wrote while he was serving in Korea and was assigned to the Armed Forces Korea Network station as an announcer. When his military commitment was completed, he was working at the CBS mail room in Los Angeles, and submitted the script to William N. Robson. It was rejected. Bamber submitted it to Paul Roberts when he became the show’s producer, and Roberts accepted it. This was Bamber’s first radio script. It was performed on his station sometime between 1955 and 1957 with a cast of co-workers who were also assigned there. They produced their own sound effects, including recording some of the trucks they used, since there were no sound effects records at the station.

The story takes place in Korea in the early 1950s. Lipton plays US Army Private First Class Larry Connelly. He has a mystical experience in the course of duty while driving on a lonely highway. He was ordered by his sergeant to drive a truck to Seoul and then return on a cold, snowy Christmas Day. Connelly picks up a hitch-hiker who is out of military uniform. He claims he is a GI and tells Connelly how he spent Christmas Day 1951 on some strange duty with others. Connelly listens to the story and it is soon time to drop the GI off at his destination. He drives along a little while and realizes that the GI left his knapsack in the truck. Connelly tries to return it and experiences an eerie adventure he will never forget. The experience has a special warmth of the best of the Christmas season though he is far away from home.

Keep an ear out for the name of the GI and details about him as they are clues to what is learned at the conclusion to tie it all together.

No script can be found to identify the program recording date.

The surviving recording is a complete network aircheck from WROW in very pleasing sound.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP591220

THE CAST

Bill Lipton (Pfc. Connolly), Lyle Sudrow (Whitey), Phil Meeder (Soldier), Guy Repp (Walker), Larry Robinson (Brownie), Lawson Zerbe (Harry), Alan Manson (Stevens)

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1959-12-13 The Country of the Blind

Bernard Grant stars in this second Suspense broadcast of the famous 1904 HG Wells short story. It was presented three prior times on Escape. The story was adapted by John Dunkel.

Grant plays a mountaineer lost in the rocky peaks of Ecuador and finds a valley of blind people, cut off from the world for generations. They have a vibrant society and culture that has found ways to thrive. He lives with them as an outsider, and becomes integrated in their way of life. That is, until they truly want him to be just like them. The story has a surprise ending.

The story was done on Suspense two years earlier with Raymond Burr. Details about that broadcast and the original story are at

• https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/04/1957-10-27-country-of-blind.html

• https://archive.org/details/TSP571027 is where recordings can be downloaded and streamed

No script can be found to identify the program recording date.

For many years, the only copy of this program was a low quality highly edited network aircheck. The surviving network recording is fully intact and is highly listenable with mildly narrow range. There is an Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#765) that is the much better of the two.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP591213

THE CAST

Bernard Grant (Juan Nuñez), Lynn Loring (Medina-Saroté), Ralph Camargo (Pedro), Arthur Kohl (Señor Cartwright), Jackson Beck (Gregor), Santos Ortega (father)

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