Suspense was an old-time radio drama from the "Golden Age of Radio" that ran from 1940 until 1961 on CBS Radio. The program focused on suspense thriller-type scripts and usually featured leading Hollywood actors and actresses of the era. OTRHQ will focus primarily on the 1940's and early 1950's episodes..

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Amos and Andy: 10/1/46, episode 109

Suspense: 01/05/58, episode 731

Hillary Brooke is the guest star in this second broadcast of this Winifred Wolfe script. Her character is having nightmares that her husband has plans to kill her. He’s not, but the dreams are so vivid and detailed that she is convinced he is. Eventually, she believes that the dreams are reliable premonitions. No matter how her husband behaves, there’s a sinister aspect to it and she knows his true motives. It does not turn out well.

The 1945 broadcast of this script starred Nancy Kelly. Details about that broadcast and New York scriptwriter Winifred Wolfe can be found at https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/07/1945-11-29-week-ago-wednesday.html and listened to at https://youtu.be/jSDi4ssOLDQ.

This episode was recorded on Tuesday, December 31, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00 pm and ended at 5:00 pm. Recording began at that time, followed by in-studio editing, ending at 7:00 pm. Production editing continued until 9:00 pm.

The only available recording of this episode is from a 1960s or 1970s Armed Forces Radio Network aircheck. The opening of the AFRTS version can be heard at the beginning of the recording. No network recording has been found, nor has an AFRS transcription disc been located. The recording has narrow range and some background noise.

Advertising spots on the network broadcast were Kent cigarettes, Grove Laboratories, Ex-Lax, and an unspecified spot that was not determined at the time of recording. Only the final network recording would have that information and audio.

Hillary Brooke’s only Suspense appearance was near the end of her 20-year film career. He last big film was in Hitchcock’s 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much, but many nostalgia fans remember her for three Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and for two Abbott and Costello movies. Her last television roles were in 1960.

The cast: Hillary Brooke (Maud Haskin), D. J. Thompson (Woman in Apartment 3B), John Dehner (Harry Haskin), Dick Beals (the Little Boy), George Walsh (Narrator)

For more information visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/05/1958-01-05-week-ago-wednesday.html

Amos and Andy: 5/14/46, episode 106

Duffy's Tavern is an American radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks (CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast.

The program often featured celebrity guest stars but always hooked them around the misadventures of Archie, the tavern's manager, portrayed by Ed Gardner. Archie was prone to involvement in get-rich-quick schemes and romantic missteps, and constantly communicated with malaprops and mixed metaphors. Gardner had performed the character of Archie, talking about Duffy's Tavern, as early as November 9, 1939, when he appeared on NBC's Good News of 1940. Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffy's_Tavern

This episode is called "Archie's Bank Account" and it originally aired on March 23, 1949.

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Suspense: 12/29/57, episode 730

William Conrad stars in the third offering of this James Poe script about a love triangle in a butcher shop. A shop with all implements used for carving and chopping flesh and bone is not a place to confront a jealous and vengeful butcher. It’s a classic Suspense story that culminates in a well-staged but gruesome sequence that surprises at its extent.

Information about the prior broadcasts with Kirk Douglas and Hy Averback are available at these resources:

1950-02-09 Kirk Douglas

https://youtu.be/07Oamw-fAIs has background about the author James Poe and other background information

1954-08-10 Hy Averback

https://youtu.be/rUi5Ma_3Ho0

This program was recorded on Wednesday, December 18, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00 pm and ended at 5:00 pm. At that time, recording began. That session, with some edits, concluded at 7:00 pm. Additional editing continued until 9:00 pm.

The advertisers on the network program were Kent, Grove Laboratories, Ex-Lax, and Chef Boyardee. The surviving recording is likely a network program in which the ads were edited out.

This episode was the first appearance of Cathy Lewis on radio in two years. Elliott officially filed for divorce in November 1957. They had not been together for a while, and really did not do any work together after On Stage left the air in 1954.

The cast: William Conrad (Harry), Cathy Lewis (Mary), Joe de Santis (Nick), Lou Merrill (Kraus), George Walsh (Narrator)

For more information visit https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2025/05/1957-12-29-never-steal-butchers-wife.html

Theatre 5: 05/07/65, episode 200

Genre: Murder mystery

Plotline: A heartbroken widow concocts a scheme to catch her husband’s murderer using his old car—and the valuable secret hiding inside it.

Cast: Laura Stuart, Ed Zimmerman, Diane Rousseau, Owen Jordan

Issued by AFRTS as #186.

Amos and Andy: 5/7/46, episode 105

Jack Benny was one of the most popular radio performers of all time. He is one of my favorites.

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