Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 330 - Joseph Cotten (Part 7) Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Hitchockian heavy and Third Man hero Joseph Cotten returns for more "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense!" We'll hear him first as a corrupt prosecutor who plans a murder to keep his dirty dealings a secret in "A Watery Grave" (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1952). Then, he stars as the titular murderer as the ballad of "Tom Dooley" comes to life on radio (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1953).

Episode 329 - Ann Richards Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

After achieving stardom in her native Australia, Ann Richards traveled to Hollywood. Unfortunately, studios never quite figured out what to do with her, and she retired after making just 12 movies in the States. But during her short stint in Hollywood, she co-starred with the likes of Brian Donlevy, Burt Lancaster, and Barbara Stanwyck. We'll hear her as a young woman who conspires to stay in high society by any means necessary in Marie Belloc Lowndes' "The Story of Ivy" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1945). Plus, she co-stars in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of "Disputed Passage" (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1945).

Episode 328 - Lee Bowman Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Lee Bowman enjoyed a brief run of success on the big screen during World War II, but when film roles dried up he turned to television and eventually to a second career as a corporate and political media consultant. We'll hear him as a man who comes home from his bachelor party to discover a murder mystery in "Five Canaries in the Room" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1943). Then, Bowman plays a man saved from death only to wind up framed for murder in "Sell Me Your Life" (originally aired on CBS on February 15, 1945).

Episode 327 - Joan Lorring (Part 3) Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

Academy Award-nominated actress Joan Lorring returns in two more Suspense thrillers from the early 1960s. First, it's "The Luck of the Tiger Eye," a tale of greed and graverobbing set in a mansion on a dark and stormy night (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1961). Then, a pair of newlyweds might be parted by death sooner than anticipated in "Please Believe Me" (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1962). Plus, we'll hear Joan Lorring as a woman who discovers a dead body in a taxi in "The Corpse Nobody Loved" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (AFRS rebroadcast from September 21, 1952).

BONUS - Best of Alan Ladd Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

For this month's bonus show, I'm sharing my three favorite Suspense episodes starring Shane himself - Alan Ladd. First, he's an ex-con framed for murder in "The Defense Rests" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944). Then, Ladd plays a detective facing his toughest case yet - his wife is accused of killing a man - in "Motive for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on March 16, 1950). Finally, he's in cowboy country for the western revenge drama "A Killing in Abeline" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950).

Episode 326 - Herbert Marshall (Part 5) Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast with two more old time radio thrillers. The star of Foreign Correspondent and The Man Called X is running for his life after he takes a shot at Hitler in "Rogue Male," an adaptation of Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel (originally aired on CBS on December 31, 1951). Then, he's the celebrated explorer Robert Scott in the harrowing tale of his doomed expedition to the South Pole in "The Diary of Captain Scott" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1952).

Episode 325 - Sonny Tufts Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Sonny Tufts was the Hollywood discovery of 1943 and seemed primed for a huge career. Unfortunately, a battle with alcohol and some tawdry headlines soon overshadowed his screen performances. His dubious reputation in his later years also led to a rumor surrounding his one and only visit to Suspense. We'll hear him as a ham radio operator investigating something suspicious on the other end of the line in "Cat and Mouse" (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1944). And we'll hear him visit Duffy's Tavern, where Ms. Duffy has her eye on Sonny as a date for a Valentine's Day dance (originally aired on NBC on February 2, 1945).

Click here to learn more about the legend of Sonny Tufts on Suspense!

Episode 324 - Macdonald Carey Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Macdonald Carey starred on television for nearly 30 years in Days of Our Lives, and his voice still introduces each episode of the long-running soap opera. But before he was a daytime TV star, he played a detective in love in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and was one of Hollywood's B-movie kings. We'll hear him as a reporter searching for "The Missing Person" (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1952). Plus, Carey stars as a New Orleans bar owner and boat captain in the drama series Jason and the Golden Fleece (originally aired on NBC on January 11, 1953).

Episode 323 - Francis X. Bushman Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

At the height of his career, Francis X. Bushman received over one thousand fan letters a week and was hailed as the "king of the movies." Bushman was a screen idol of the silent film era and he starred in hundreds of films in the earliest years of Hollywood. We'll hear him narrate a tale of romance and murder from classic Tinseltown in "The City That Was" (an AFRS rebroadcast from November 17, 1957). Plus, we'll hear him as Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in the radio mystery "The Shakespeare Folio" (originally aired on Mutual on November 30, 1945).

BONUS - Best of Edward G. Robinson Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring the great Edward G. Robinson. Best known for his tough guy turns in movies like Little Caesar and Key Largo, Robinson played against type to great effect on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a man accused of his imaginary wife's murder in "My Wife, Geraldine" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1945). Then he plays both himself and a very starstruck fan in "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Finally, Robinson is a man coerced into an insurance fraud in "You Can't Die Twice" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949).

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected