Waldina

Suspense "The Visitor" May 11, 1944

A young boy who was thought dead returns home. Or does he? A good story with a surprise ending. The story was subsequently produced on "Suspense" on September 18, 1947. + Eddie Bracken stars as Bud Owen a boy over whose head hung dark clouds of suspicion and who is involved in a particularly heartless crime.

Suspense "Mr Markham Antique Dealer" May 11, 1943

A story about a blackmailer, a murderer, and a room full of clocks, one of which talks! + Paul Lukas stars as Mr Markham an antique dealer and blackmailer. It is a story of a man who commits murder and gets away with it, a man who in the eye of Scotland Yard is the victim.

"The Ghost of San Juan Hill" CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 10, 1976

Chaos ensues with the resurrection from the dead of the bride's deceased husband who had supposedly perished in the Spanish-American War.

Today is the 103rd birthday of the man who produced art under the name Tom of Finland: Touko Valio Laaksonen. His work not only helped isolated gay men after the Second World War realize they had a place, but it also created visibility. His images, some of which are much tamer and less revealing than their heteronormative counterparts, were censored, banned, confiscated, and even burned. There was a time when it was more acceptable to show an actual photograph depicting a heterosexual woman being restrained against her will than a drawing of two men expressing attraction to each other. Sadly, as recent as 2019, the official Tom of Finland Instagram account was disabled for a violation of community guidelines. Maybe if the drawings of men were holding a box of diet tea? If you do not like or understand his art, it is probably because it is not for you, it is a good lesson in understanding differences. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://waldina.com/2023/05/08/happy-103rd-birthday-touko-valio-laaksonen/

"What a Change in Hilda" CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 6, 1976

For two women, a small fee to obtain their heart's desire seemed a reasonable price to pay. Little did they know that would get more than they bargained for.

Suspense "Death Flies Blind" May 4, 1943

A story about a Nazi spy who highjacks a plane carrying an American millionaire who has the plans for submarine freighters. + Heading the star cast is Richard Dix who appears as the United States naval officer who found himself in a remarkable predicament on what should have been an uneventful flight from New York to Philadelphia and fellow passengers aboard the airliner are Gale Page as a girl named Monica and Montague Love who plays that aged and domineering millionaire Stylus Naylor.

Suspense "The Dark Tower" May 4, 1944

Orson appears in several roles in a story about actors, one of whom returns from the dead and tries a little extortion. A delightful ham-on-wry. + Suspense brings you The Dark Tower from the play by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott. Jessica had been in a sanatorium for nearly a year. She hadn't been on the stage in more than two years. "The Dark Tower" was to be her first attempt to work again in all that time. It isn't the greatest play in the world, but it has a sure-fire box office appeal which. Jessica needed to get her confidence back.

"The Cornstarch Killer" CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 3, 1976

Discovering that she can bring down the wrath of God upon anyone who approaches her with impure intentions is a major inconvenience to a landlord who is growing increasingly wary of his boarder-- and just as enchanted.

"Two Plus Two Equals Death" CBS Radio Mystery Theater - April 29, 1976

A young architect is pulled into the maddening rush of the circus when he falls for an enchanting dancer. His troubles begin when he learns his lover has an equally beautiful but heartless identical twin sister. Can he have one without the other?

Suspense "The Diary Of Sophronia Winters" April 27, 1943

A great horror story about a new bride, a madman, and an hotel with 125 deserted rooms! The story was subsequently produced on "Suspense" on August 17, 1944 and on August 10, 1958. Sophronia Moorhead is enjoying a holiday in Florida when she meets the man of her dreams. H. Johnson is strong, generous, poetic, deep, thoughtful, handsome - in short too good to be true. Sophronia is well and truly smitten with him. For the remainder of her holiday he treats her like a Queen. In the end marriage is inevitable, but what exactly is Sophronia letting herself in for. Is her bridegroom as perfect as he seems or is he hiding a sinister secret?