Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

Our annual countdown to Halloween begins with the great Peter Lorre as a man haunted by an unseen presence. Lorre stars in "The Horla," an adaptation of the short story by Guy de Maupassant from Mystery in the Air (originally aired on NBC on August 21, 1947).

We're digging into the classics with a two-part Suspense adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the novel left unfinished by Charles Dickens when he passed away in 1870. Herbert Marshall stars in this production (originally aired on CBS on January 5 and January 12, 1953) that presents a possible ending to Dickens' murder mystery. We'll also hear an adaptation of Dickens' eerie story "The Signal Man" presented on Lights Out (originally aired on NBC on August 24, 1946).

On September 30, 1962, Suspense aired its final episode and the golden age of radio drama came to an end. In honor of the 60th anniversary of that last broadcast, we'll hear four of the final episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "Run Faster" (originally aired on CBS on August 5, 1962); "The Lost Ship" (originally aired on CBS on August 26, 1952), "The Death of Alexander Jordan" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1962); and "A Strange Day in May" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1962). Click here to listen to Episode 100 - Beginnings and Endings, featuring "Devilstone," the final episode of Suspense.

A frequent collaborator of Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier appeared with the Mercury Theatre onstage and on radio and he played Banquo in Welles' film version of Macbeth. Elsewhere, Barrier hunted the Phantom of the Opera on the big screen and voiced Simon Templar on radio. We'll hear him as a scientist trying to prevent an outbreak of plague in "Black Death" (originally aired on CBS on August 2, 1955) and as a man hunting for his ancestor's pirate booty in "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1956). We'll also hear Barrier in "The Projective Mr. Drogan" from Lights Out (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1943) and as Julius Caesar in "Twenty-Three Knives Against Caesar" from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1954).

Van Heflin bids goodbye to the podcast with his final three appearances on Suspense. First, he's a man who waits years to finish a duel in "The Shot" (AFRS rebroadcast from October 12, 1953). Then, Heflin plays the infamous Public Enemy #1 in "The Last Days of John Dillinger" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1954). Finally, he stars as a drifter who wanders into a town and a murder frame in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on April 12, 1959). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as Philip Marlowe in a radio adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "Red Wind" (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947).

Jack Benny sets down his violin and trades mirth for mystery in my three favorite Suspense episodes starring the legendary comedian. First, he finds a bag of money and a pile of trouble in "Murder in G-Flat" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951). Then, he's an embezzling retiree who adjusts his pension plan in "A Good and Faithful Servant" (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1952). Finally, we head to Mars where Benny's average Martian is recruited to welcome visitors from Earth in "Plan X" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953).

Geraldine Fitzgerald was an Oscar nominee and a rising star in Hollywood in the late 1930s, But battles with studio executives began to cost her roles and derailed her career just as it was taking off. She enjoyed a revival in the 1960s, and she continued to work on stage and screen in everything from Arthur to The Golden Girls. We'll hear her as a woman whose husband is obsessed with one of history's most infamous duels in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1944). Then, she co-stars with Orson Welles in Agatha Christie's "Philomel Cottage" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943). Finally, we'll hear Geraldine Fitzgerald in "Artist to the Wounded," a wartime romantic drama from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on May 7, 1945).

Many's the time John Dehner was gunned down in a classic TV western. With his deep, smooth voice, he was a natural to play heavies on screen but on radio, the versatile Dehner could play almost anybody - from Scotland Yard inspectors to murderers, from refined reporters to gunslingers. We'll hear the radio legend and character actor in "The Man with the Steel Teeth" - a story he wrote (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1955). Then he stars in a Suspense show pulled from the history books - "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1955). Finally, we'll hear Dehner as reporter J.B. Kendall - the Frontier Gentleman - in "The Powder River Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1958).

Whether she was in a supporting role opposite Cary Grant or Gregory Peck or in the lead, Cathy Lewis' performances on Suspense were always top notch. We'll hear her on a desperate mission to save a man's life in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1946). Then she's trapped in a car teetering on the edge of a cliff in "The Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on August 17, 1958). And as a bonus, we'll hear her with Marie Wilson in a comedy episode of My Friend Irma (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1947).

One of the best heavies in Hollywood, Henry Daniell crossed swords with Errol Flynn and played Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. Appropriately, Daniell appeared as a pair of scoundrels when he visited the Suspense microphone. First, he's a professional blackmailer confronted by his victims in "The Dealings of Mr. Markham" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1945). Then, he's a scientist with some unusual theories about murder in "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on August 15, 1946).

We're saluting the master of big screen suspense for his birthday with one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films recreated for radio. It's his 1946 romantic spy thriller Notorious, where a beautiful young woman is recruited by the government to seduce and spy on a Nazi in hiding. Ingrid Bergman reprises her screen role, and she's joined by Joseph Cotten in this Lux Radio Theatre presentation (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1948).

It's the 300th episode of Stars on Suspense! To celebrate, I'm going back to the first year of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" to share six of my favorite shows from that initial year of Suspense. First, Orson Welles takes a cross-country road trip in "The Hitch-hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1943), followed by "The Kettler Method," a tale set in an insane asylum on a dark and stormy night (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1943). Then, Paul Stewart investigates a murder in Trinidad in "A Passage to Benares" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1942) and a young man tries to stay alive to win big money in "Will You Make a Bet with Death?" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1942). Finally, Peter Lorre is a jealous husband with murder on his mind in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942) and Bela Lugosi is a scientist with a plan to create murderers in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943).

Our seventh season begins with Chester Morris, a star whose career spanned the silent and sound eras of Hollywood. But after a big run in the 20s and 30s (including an Oscar nomination), Morris found himself in B-movies by the 40s. His career got a shot in the arm when he was cast as reformed jewel thief turned detective Boston Blackie in a popular film series. Today, we'll hear him as a safecracker out for revenge on the partner who betrayed him in "The Strange Death of Gordon Fitzroy" (originally aired on CBS on November 28, 1946). Then, he reprises his signature role in the first episode of the Boston Blackie radio show (originally aired on NBC on June 23, 1944).

We say goodbye to Richard Widmark, as the star of Kiss of Death and Pickup on South Street stars in his final episodes of Suspense. First, he's a soldier on a secret mission to Cuba on the eve of the Spanish-American War in "A Message to Garcia" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1953). Then, Widmark plays a gambler who's about to lose it all at home but who can't help betting big on one last hand in "The Card Game" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1954). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as "The Man Who Couldn't Die" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (originally aired on CBS on February 12, 1946).

Best known to radio listeners as Peg Riley, long-suffering wife of Chester A. on The Life of Riley - and to traumatized movie fans as the voice of Bambi's mother - Paula Winslowe was one of radio's busiest and best actresses. We'll hear her as an amnesia victim who may also be a murderer in "Lost" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1954). Then, she co-stars with Virginia Gregg and Irene Tedrow in "Goodbye, Miss Lizzie Borden" (originally aired on CBS on October 4, 1955) - a story of what might have happened after the infamous forty whacks. Finally, we'll hear Paula Winslowe alongside William Bendix in The Life of Riley, where Riley and Peg are running against each other in a local election (originally aired on NBC on November 2, 1946).

To generations of classic movie fans, Richard Conte is instantly recognizable as Don Barzini, longtime rival of Don Corleone in The Godfather. But before that role  Conte had spent years in war movies, noir dramas, and TV shows - co-starring with Jimmy Stewart, Victor Mature, and Frank Sinatra. We'll hear Conte as a boxer with Peter Lorre as his murderous manager in "Of Maestro and Man" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, Conte is a private eye hunting for the killer of a bookie in "Win, Place, and Murder" (originally aired on CBS on April 24, 1947). Finally, he plays Wyatt Earp in a western drama from the Hallmark Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1949).

In a king-sized crossover, Sam Spade hopped from his weekly detective series to headline an hour-long episode of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." William Spier produced and directed both shows, and when the time came to relaunch Suspense as an hour-long show, Spier enlisted Dashiell Hammett's gumshoe to make an appearance. Howard Duff and Lurene Tuttle reprised their roles of Sam and his loyal secretary Effie in "The Kandy Tooth," an original radio sequel to The Maltese Falcon that first aired as a two-parter on The Adventures of Sam Spade and was recreated for Suspense (originally aired on CBS on January 10, 1948). But first, we'll hear The Maltese Falcon recreated for the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943) featuring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.

Born into a family of performers, Joan Bennett enjoyed great success on stage and screen in her own right. She won acclaim from audiences and critics in everything from ingenue parts to roles as film noir temptresses and doting mothers. But her film career came to an abrupt end after her jealous husband attempted to murder a man he considered a romantic rival. We'll hear Joan Bennett as a woman falling for one of her husband's music students in "Overture in Two Keys" (originally aired on CBS on January 16, 1947). Then, she's accused of the murder of her boss's wife in "Statement of Mary Blake" (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1950). Finally, we'll hear Joan Bennett recreate one of her best screen roles as The Woman in the Window is recreated for Hollywood Star Time (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1946).

Leon Ames broke out with his portrayal of Judy Garland's dad in Meet Me in St. Louis, and he played several outwardly stuffy but inwardly sweet dads - and showed off a dry wit - in movies and TV shows through the 1980s. We'll hear him in his one and only visit to Suspense as a businessman who overhears a murder plot when he plays hooky from the office in "An Evening's Diversion" (originally aired on CBS on July 4, 1946). Then, Ames co-stars with Vanessa Brown in an adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel Main Street for The NBC University Theatre (originally aired on NBC on July 30, 1948).

The singing star of The Great Ziegfeld returns to the podcast as we listen to Virginia Bruce's final appearances on Suspense. First, she's afraid she's being stalked by a man who's supposedly still in prison in "The Night Man" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1946). Then, Ms. Bruce is a lonely housewife who falls for a handsome - and mysterious - new handyman in "Knight Comes Riding" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1947). Click here for two more of Virginia Bruce's Suspense shows. And click here to hear her opposite Robert Young in the Suspense drama "Celebration."