Suspense (radio program)
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Suspens1.jpg Suspense was one of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (aka old-time radio), and advertised itself as "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." It was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. There were approximately 945 episodes broadcast during its long run, over 900 of which are extant in mostly high-quality recordings
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: Protagonists were usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation. Evildoers must be punished in the end. The program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Among its science fiction entries were "The Man who Went Back to Save Lincoln" (a time travel fantasy), and an adaptation of "Donovan's Brain".
Alfred Hitchcock purportedly directed the audition show — an adaptation of The Lodger, that Hitchcock had filmed in 1926 — in a 1940 program called Forecast, starring Herbert Marshall. In the early phase, the program was hosted by "The Man in Black" (played by Joseph Kearns or Ted Osborne) and many episodes written or adapted by the prominent mystery author John Dickson Carr. Escape was a similar anthology thriller and suspense program. Both occasionally adapted the same stories, though Escape had lower budgets -- and thus, fewer sound effects and name actors. Image:Suspensead.jpg The sponsor became Roma Wines and then Autolite Spark Plugs; eventually Harlow Wilcox (of Fibber McGee and Molly) became the pitchman. William Spier, William N. Robson, and Anton M. Leder were among the producers and directors.
The program's heyday was in the early 1950s, when radio actor, producer and director Elliott Lewis took over (still during the Wilcox/Autolite run). Here the material reached new levels of sophistication. The writing was taut, and the casting, which had always been a strong point of the series (featuring such film stars as Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Colman and Cary Grant), took an unexpected turn when Lewis expanded the repertory to include many of radio's famous drama and comedy stars -- often playing against type -- such as Jack Benny and Jim and Marian Jordan of Fibber McGee and Molly. The highest production values enhanced Suspense, and many of the shows retain their power to grip, entertain and move.
The single most popular episode of Suspense is "Sorry, Wrong Number," written by the premier radio scribe Lucille Fletcher, in which a panicked, bedridden woman (played by veteran radio actor Agnes Moorehead) tries to convince a telephone operator she has overheard a murder plot on a crossed telephone connection. First broadcast on May 25, 1943, it was restaged seven times (last on 2/14/60) -- each time with Miss Moorehead as the star -- and spawned the 1948 film Sorry, Wrong Number with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead role. Another noteworthy episode was Orson Welles' "The Hitchhiker." Many extant episodes are considered by fans to be of equal or greater quality.
The final broadcasts of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar on September 30, 1962, are often cited as the end of the Golden Age of Radio.