Suspense 80th Anniversary on the Radio Talking Book Service classic radio progr…
The Suspense Project
Radio Talking Book Service marked the 80th anniversary of Suspense month on its program "Dusty Attic" for eight episodes in June and July 2022. The classic radio program is hosted by Ryan Osentowski and offers two Suspense episodes for each broadcast. Fellow radio enthusiast Bruce Toews was guest host for week 3. Suspense researcher and classic radio program collector Dr. Joe Webb provided brief introductory commentary for each of the episodes. Each episode runs about 65 to 70 minutes. Week 1: The Burning Court (1942-06-17) and Devilstone (1962-09-30), the first and last Suspense broadcasts Week 2 : The Ten Years (1949-06-02; rare complete broadcast; this was the first pre-recorded production and starred Joan Crawford who was so concerned about microphone fright she paid for the recording costs) and Nobody Ever Quits (1955-03-08; includes background about the allegorical references in the story that writer and future Suspense producer William N. Robson made about his Red Channels blacklisting and multi-year CBS exile) Week 3 : A Week Ago Wednesday (1945-11-29; an excellent program that typifies the use of "first person narrative" used in this Suspense era) and Death on My Hands (1951-05-10; Phil Harris and Alice Faye star, directed by Elliott Lewis, who played the comedic ne'er-do-well guitarist Frankie Remley on their situation comedy program) Week 4: House in Cypress Canyon (1946-12-05; the famous and highly regarded horror episode) and Three O'Clock (1949-03-10; an incredible performance by movie star Van Heflin in the adaptation of a superb Cornell Woolrich story) Week 5: Dead Ernest (1946-08-08; the episode that was pulled from William Spier's rejection bin, ended up winning a Peabody Award for Suspense , and saved the Roma Wines sponsorship for another half-year) and Fury and Sound (1945-07-26; the strangest Suspense episode ever... and was an inside-joke roast of producer William Spier by his mentors with lots of behind-the-scenes stories that included publicity about an actor in the lead role... who didn't exist!) Week 6: Two episodes scripted by Lucille Fletcher, the author of the legendary Sorry, Wrong Number , The Hitchhiker (1942-09-02; starring Orson Welles) and Night Man (1944-10-26) Week 7: The Long Night (1956-11-18; an amazing story with Frank Lovejoy starring as an airport traffic controller trying to guide a lost private plane pilot) and the never-broadcast A Murderous Revision (recorded January 1951) starring Howard Duff. Week 8: July 23: Steel River Prison Break (1951-09-03; an excellent story by William N. Robson starring Jeff Chandler) and Lazarus Walks (1946-10-31; an entertaining mystery about ESP and psychic phenomena) OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST More details about Fury and Sound may be found at https://archive.org/details/suspense-fs If you enjoy these recordings, you may also enjoy the 12-hour Suspense marathon with show introductions by Joe Webb and noted voice actor and impressionist Keith Scott https://archive.org/details/80thAnnivSuspenseMarathon
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.