Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Originally Aired: December 7, 1950

Suspense #406, "After the Movies," stars Ray Milland as Al Benig, a juror sequestered during a sensational trial. When Al and his wife Ann go to the movies during a brief recess, they stop at a local drugstore for ice cream. There, Al discovers an envelope containing ten thousand dollars and a cryptic, threatening note. The message reads: "This is your first half as agreed in the EH business. If they are not hung up when the time comes, don't expect to get the rest or stay healthy very long."

Ann quickly pieces together the clues, realizing the money is a bribe intended for someone on Al's jury. The initials "EH" likely stand for Edward Harmon, the defendant in the very trial where Al is serving. The note's ominous warning about keeping a jury "hung up" suggests a dangerous conspiracy to corrupt the justice system. As the couple debates what to do with their discovery, they face a difficult choice: turn the money over to authorities immediately or wait until morning. The decision becomes more urgent when Ann insists they must call the police right away, fearing any delay might make Al himself appear complicit in the bribery scheme.

Originally Aired: November 30, 1950

Suspense #405, "The Lady in the Red Hat," features Van Heflin as Mitch Mitchell, a columnist whose provocative articles about a serial killer known as the Avenger have attracted unwanted attention. The Avenger has murdered five women in three months, each victim wearing something red. When Mitch receives an anonymous note inviting him to meet the Avenger at midnight in an abandoned chapel, he discovers his colleague Jeannie and police Lieutenant Dow have received identical messages. The three realize they're all deeply involved in the case—Mitch through his psychological analysis columns, Jeannie through her newspaper reporting, and Dow through his investigation.

As they wait together in a dimly lit bar, tension mounts while they debate whether the invitation is genuine or a crank's sick joke. Mitch theorizes about the killer's psychology, suggesting the Avenger sees red as sinful and seeks to purge the world. The chilling possibility emerges that the murderer could be someone they know, perhaps even one of them. Despite Lieutenant Dow's objections, all three are determined to keep the midnight appointment at the community chapel, knowing one of them might be the Avenger's next target.

Originally Aired: November 23, 1950

Suspense #404, "Going, Going, Gone," finds married couple Wally and Jan Pindell caught up in an increasingly dangerous situation after a routine auction visit turns extraordinary. When Jan insists on bidding for a mysteriously sealed old trunk, Wally reluctantly agrees, thinking it's just another impulse purchase. They secure it for three dollars, but immediately a frantic latecomer offers two hundred dollars for it. The auction house even tries to substitute a different trunk, fueling Jan's suspicion that their purchase contains something valuable.

Back home, the couple opens the trunk to find what appears to be costume jewelry buried beneath old rags and newspapers. When Wally performs the classic glass-scratch test to prove the gems are fake, he discovers the shocking truth: the jewels are real, worth millions. As they try to process their incredible fortune, reality intrudes. Someone knocks at their door. After hastily hiding the trunk in their bedroom, they open it to find a man named Anatole Minchie, who politely introduces himself and makes clear he knows exactly what they bought at the auction.

Originally Aired: November 16, 1950

Suspense #403, "On a Country Road," stars Cary Grant as David, who makes a fateful decision to take a shortcut with his wife Dorothy during a violent storm. As they drive through the desolate woods of Long Island, radio bulletins warn that Nellie Galler, a dangerous escaped mental patient who has already murdered multiple people with a meat cleaver, is loose in the area. The authorities urge motorists to stay off lonely roads and avoid picking up hitchhikers, but David dismisses Dorothy's growing fear and presses on through the isolated countryside.

When their car runs out of gas on a deserted road near Center Moriches, the very area where Galler just committed her latest murders, Dorothy's terror intensifies. Strapped in darkness with only the storm raging around them, the couple must decide whether to stay in the vulnerable car or venture into the woods for help. As tension mounts between David's determination and Dorothy's panic, they face the horrifying possibility that the killer may be lurking nearby in the darkness.

Originally Aired: November 9, 1950

In Suspense #402, "Blood on the Trumpet," Victor Roberts, a talented jazz trumpeter in New Orleans, finds himself under arrest for the brutal murder of his wife Sarah. As Sergeant Juno interrogates him, Vic recounts the deteriorating marriage that led to tragedy. Sarah constantly belittles his musical dreams, calling him a second-rate horn blower and a has-been, while Vic clings to hopes of making it big. Their arguments have become routine, vicious, and seemingly endless. The tension escalates when Vic meets Luanna Duran, a beautiful music lover who actually appreciates his talent, at Lou Eichstatt's club in the French Quarter.

The situation spirals toward violence when Vic returns home late one night to discover Sarah entertaining another man in their room. Club owner Lou has already warned him about Luanna, mentioning she's involved with Rico Angelini, a corrupt and dangerous cop. Now, betrayed by his wife and holding Luanna's lipsticked address in his hand, Vic makes a fateful decision. The murder weapon—his own trumpet—becomes an instrument of death rather than music, and Lieutenant Angelini himself leads the investigation into a case with dark personal connections.

Originally Aired: November 2, 1950

Suspense #401, "The Victoria Cross," finds Captain Vale, a housemaster at the prestigious Hoxley School, trapped in a nightmare of his own making. Tormented by war memories and dependent on medication to escape his dreams, Vale struggles to maintain his position of authority and respectability. When he catches student Francis Aud passing exam answers to Giles Bateman, the school's golden boy and cricket captain, Vale prepares to report the cheating. But Bateman turns the tables, threatening to expose Vale's secret visits to a barmaid named Maggie at the Dagon and Drum pub in the village.

As Vale's carefully constructed life begins to crumble, he desperately tries to discover what Bateman knows and how much he's shared with others. The young man's power over him grows, and Vale finds himself checking on his sleeping students at night, wondering about their futures while his own security dissolves. When the timid Francis Aud requests a room change, Vale realizes that Bateman's influence may be spreading, threatening to destroy everything he's tried to build since the war.

Originally Aired: October 26, 1950

Suspense #400, "Too Hot to Live,"

Jefferson Casey, an ex-Air Corps captain still wearing his old uniform, jumps off a freight train near Marcus Junction with nowhere to go and nothing to lose. When his worn boot starts falling apart on the hot tar road, he encounters Benjamin Maxwell, the local sheriff, who proves surprisingly friendly and helps him find a shoe repair shop. While waiting for his shoes to be fixed, Jefferson meets Rachel, a provocative blonde waitress who works at the restaurant next door. Despite the jealous protests of Kenny, the pop-eyed grill man who's clearly infatuated with her, Rachel invites the barefoot stranger up to her apartment above the diner.

As Jefferson follows Rachel upstairs to her small apartment, the tension builds in this hot Saturday morning encounter. The drifter with a death wish, the worldly waitress hungry for new faces, and the possessive short-order cook form a dangerous triangle in this small town where Benjamin Maxwell keeps the peace. What begins as a casual meeting over coffee quickly escalates into something far more dangerous in the sweltering heat of Marcus Junction.

Originally Aired: October 19, 1950

Suspense #399, "The Wages of Sin," stars Barbara Stanwyck as Ruby Miller, a woman with a questionable past who returns to her apartment to find a murdered man bleeding on her rug. The victim is David Madlock, a man Ruby claims she's never met, yet he was shot to death in her living room and had a key to her apartment on his body. Captain Salvador doesn't believe her story, especially when he discovers that Ruby recently came into a large sum of money, enough to pay for an expensive apartment, new clothes, and a substantial bank deposit. Despite having an airtight alibi for the time of the murder, Ruby becomes the center of a media firestorm while Salvador's investigation suggests she was paid to play a role in something much larger and more dangerous.

As the heat intensifies, Ruby faces pressure from all sides. Salvador warns her that whoever hired her for this setup won't hesitate to eliminate her when she's no longer useful, but Ruby maintains her tough exterior and refuses to cooperate. When threatening phone calls begin and mysterious men in overcoats appear outside her apartment, Ruby must decide whether her silence is worth the wages she's been paid.

Originally Aired: October 12, 1950

Suspense #398, "Rave Notice," presents Milton Berle as Sam, a passionate actor whose world crumbles when director Norman replaces him in the role of the bell ringer during rehearsals. After five days of work, Norman coldly dismisses Sam from the part that he believes carries the entire production, citing only that Sam isn't right for it and brutally telling him he's no actor. The humiliation and rage drive Sam to methodically purchase a shotgun, carefully selecting the weapon that will deliver his revenge. He stakes out the theater district, waiting invisible in the crowd until Norman emerges, then shoots him in the belly on 45th Street.

Now sitting in a cell, Sam learns that Norman still clings to life in the hospital. His lawyer arrives to discuss their options, explaining that Sam's deliberate planning—the threats before witnesses, the careful gun purchase, the premeditated ambush—makes a temporary insanity defense impossible. The only remaining strategy would be proving Sam was insane all along, a suggestion that sparks Sam's interest as he contemplates his fate and waits to learn whether he'll become a murderer or something else entirely.

Originally Aired: October 5, 1950

Suspense #397, "The Rose Garden," stars Miriam Hopkins as Mrs. Trimble, a recently widowed woman who arrives at her cousin Amy Hansen's home seeking refuge and a new start. With no family or friends left after her husband George's death, Effie hopes to find comfort in the quiet household. However, her arrival is met with immediate hostility from Amy's other lodger, the severe and eccentric Miss Bone, who lived in China for years and keeps an intimidating cat named Chang. Miss Bone makes her resentment clear, claiming Effie has taken her chair and warning that her cat doesn't like strangers. The tension escalates when Miss Bone reveals she possesses a bottle of deadly Chinese poison called key lai.

When the episode opens, a young woman has died in the house, Amy has called the police screaming murder, and Miss Bone is hysterical. Sheriff Richards and Doctor Kramer discover a diary that Effie left behind, suggesting she knew something terrible was about to happen. As they begin questioning the surviving women, the peaceful rose garden setting gives way to dark suspicions about what transpired in this seemingly quiet home.