Escape and Suspense!

Best or Worst? - Pages From a Diary

"Pages from a Diary" is a peculiar episode of Suspense. The story opens in the bedroom of of a farmer named John. His fiance, Janet is looking for something that will help her understand what has happened to him. She opens his diary and starts reading. From there, John's disembodied voice takes over and reads aloud. The narrative takes us into the mind of a man is suffering from mental illness. It is filled with dream-like imagery and confusion. In the background, the music adds to the mood of turmoil.

This episode's weakness is that it is one long narrative and relies on the listener to stay intrigued. Not everyone will be. At the very end, we learn something that explains the narrative we just listened to. 

This episode works because Jim Backus plays the role of John. Why does Jim Backus keep our attention? Who knows, but he does. Perhaps because this isn't the kind of role he typically played. His wife, Henny Backus, played the role of Janet. Normally, the two authored humor books together, but this episode of Suspense shows a different dimension of their talents. "Pages from a Diary" was written for Suspense by Virginia Bolland.

This episode aired on August 19, 1962.

.   Download Suspense_1962.08.19.PagesFromADiary.mp3

(Image from Morgue File)

Escape - The Target

Escape's "The Target" is the story of a hunt through South America for a criminal. The story opens in Tolten, Chile, where an insurance investigator named Vic Kennedy is looking for a fellow American named Arthur Madson. His search has not gone well. Is Vic really trying to find Madson or was he paid off not to find him? There are suspicions because Arthur Madson had been in Vic's custody when he disappeared with $100,000 of his bank's money. The insurance company that Vic works for has received a new tip that Madson is hiding on an island 300 miles off the coast of Santiago. They give him one last chance to find Arthur Madson.

Vic sets off for Santiago and along the way becomes involved with a beautiful woman. As it turns out, she knows more about Madson and the stolen bank money than she lets on.

"The Target" was written by Tony Barrett, who later wrote scripts for a number of television shows including The Untouchables, Peter Gunn and The Mod Squad. It was produced by David Friedkin and Morton Fine who later went on to write and produce many television programs including The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, I Spy and Kojak. This episode starred Whitfield Connor and Mary Jane Croft and aired on September 18, 1954. The sound quality of this recording isn't the best. 

.  Download Escape_1954.09.18.The_Target.mp3

It is interesting to note that the town of Tolten in which this story begins, no longer exists. It disappeared in 1960 during the Great Chilean Earthquake. The town of Nueva Tolten (New Tolten) was founded afterwards.

(Image of Chile from Wikimedia Commons) 

Suspense - The Death of Alexander Jordan

"The Death of Alexander Jordan" is set in the mid-Twentieth century, but it is rooted in the fear of premature burial that was prevalent in Europe and America in the Victorian era. When this story first aired on the radio in 1944 on Creeps by Night, there would have been many listeners old enough to have heard the macabre Victorian tales of premature burial referred to in this story.

This episode begins with a man named Ramsey and his wife Martha. They work on the farm of his uncle, Alexander Jordon. Ramsey is a brute and Martha is long suffering. Uncle Alexander, at age 82, is now on his deathbed and he admits that he is haunted by the stories he heard in his childhood about people being buried alive. He asks that his coffin be equipped inside with an electric buzzer. Should he awake, the buzzer will ring a bell back at the farmhouse. 

Shortly afterwards, Uncle Alex does die and before the first night is over, the bell does go off. Ramsey goes down to the family crypt to see if Uncle Alex has returned from the dead. Not because he loves his uncle, but because he is determined to sell the farm and move back to the city as soon as possible.

The electric buzzer in the coffin is a modern twist on the "safety coffin" of the 19th century.  These special caskets were equipped with gadgets that worked as alarms in case of premature burial. One of the more notable safety coffins from the Victorian era was the Bateson Belfry Coffin. This casket was outfitted with a bell on its top, above the head of the deceased. A cord placed in the hand of the deceased connected to the bell. Caskets with similar safety features are still manufactured.

Although the announcer states that the radioplay for "The Death of Alexander Jordan" was written by Hector Chevigny for Suspense, it first appeared on the short-lived 1944 radio show Creeps by Night under the title "The Strange Death of Alexander Jordan." This episode starred Connie Lempke, William Mason, Paul McGrath and Edgar Stelhi.  It aired on September 2, 1962.

.   Download suspense.1962.09.02_ DeathOfAlexanderJordan.mp3

Here is another show from the 1940's about a safety coffin from the series Murder at Midnight. This story, "The Line is Dead," is about a man who has already been buried alive once, so he puts a telephone in his coffin in case it happens again.

.  Download mamn.1947.04.07_The_Line_Is_Dead.mp3

(Image from coffin bell from Wikimedia Commons. Image of Antoine Wertz's The Premature Burial from Wikimedia Commons)

Suspense - A Thing of Beauty

The Suspense episode, "A Thing of Beauty," tells of a beautiful London stage actress of yesteryear named Madeleine Tremaine. As the story begins, Madeleine is a recluse who accepts no visitors other than the local vicar, Father Benson. He is soon to retire and Father Benson wants Mr. Sedley, the new curate, to continue to counsel her. So, he has brought Mr. Sedley with him on his fortnightly visit to Madeleine.

They arrive at her house during a thunderstorm and sit with her in a darkened parlor. As she reminisces about her career, she tells them about her first stage role. Though she had a small part, Madeleine had upstaged the lead actress, Nell Garrett, too many times by showing off her ankles and performing other distracting "gutter antics" during Nell's scenes. It had all led to a confrontation with Nell Garrett in which Madeleine received a smack in the face. Later that same night, Nell Garrett was found with a knife in her back.

Suspense aired "A Thing of Beauty" twice. The first time, June Duprez starred as Madeleine. Herbert Rawlinson, and John McIntire also appeared. The radioplay was adapted from a story by Elizabeth Hiestand and written by Robert L. Richards. Produced and directed by William Spier, this episode aired on December 28, 1944.

.  Download suspense_1944.12.28_ A_Thing_Of_Beauty.mp3

The second time this episode was performed it starred Angela Lansbury as Madeleine. Hans Conried and Cathy Lewis also appeared. The second version includes a few script changes but the story is the same. It aired on May 29, 1947.

.  Download Suspense_1947.05.29_AThingofBeauty.mp3

(Image of Angela Lansbury from The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Wikimedia Commons)

Escape - Classified Secret

Escape's "Classified Secret" begins with two spies on a park bench in North Hollywood, California. They can't agree on a price for their information exchange, so they go their separate ways. One of them, a man named Charlie Raider, then gets on a bus traveling east across the country. He strikes up an acquaintance with the young woman sitting next to him, Julie Spalding, who is on her way to New York.

The bus is filled with the usual sorts of passengers on their way across the country. Things are going well for Charlie but he soon finds out that his business associates have followed him onto the bus. From that point on, Charlie has to figure out how to kill them before they kill him. When they stop for breakfast at a diner in New Mexico, he asks Julie for help. The problem is, she doesn't believe him.

This is an intriguing episode that takes place primarily on the bus and the stops along its route. The sound effects for this episode are particularly realistic, especially those of the noisy five year old kid on the bus.

"Classified Secret" was written and directed by Antony Ellis. Parley Baer starred as Charlie. Also featured were Charlotte Lawrence, Peter Leeds, Miriam Kruschen, Tim Graham, Leroy Lennart, and Georgia Ellis.

This episode aired on April 12, 1953.

.  Download Escape_1953.04.12_Classified_Secret.mp3

Two years later, the same radioplay was performed on Suspense. Parley Baer again appeared as Charlie. Suspense's version was also directed by Antony Ellis. This episode aired on November 22, 1955.

.  Download Suspense_1955.11.22_ClassifiedSecret.mp3

(Image of Route 66 in Arizona from Wikimedia Commons)

Revised 9/20/07

Suspense - Blackbeard's Ace

The Suspense episode "Blackbeard's Ace" takes place in a cabin on a beach in North Carolina. A beach that is haunted by a pirate ghost.

The story begins as Charles and Margo Reed set out for a impromptu vacation on the Carolina Coast. On the way to their cabin, the caretaker tells them the story of the previous owner, who died mysteriously at this same time a year earlier. Despite this creepy coincidence, they continue on. The cabin is an isolated one near Teach's Cove. The area is named after Edward Teach (1660-1718), the legendary English pirate known as Blackbeard.

Margo isn't happy about this trip but she puts on a brave face for her husband. She doesn't want him to think that any of this is getting the better of her.

"Blackbeard's Ace"is suspenseful and it keeps your attention throughout. Where is it going? You don't really know. Is Margo Reed, the wife, getting messages from a pirate ghost? She hears voices and has unexplained things happen to her. Is she crazy? Her husband thinks she isn't well in her mind, yet they both hear a woman's screams somewhere outside in the night. Is there an unknown entity lurking out on the beach in the dark light of a Pirate's Moon? You may have to listen to it twice to figure it all out.

This episode stars Elaine Rost, John Thomas, and Robert Dryden. It was written for Suspense by Jack Putrom. This episode aired on April 29, 1962.

.  Download Suspense.1962.04.29.BlackbeardsAce.mp3

(Image of Edward Teach (Blackbeard) from Wikipedia.com)

Suspense - Angel Face

Suspense's "Angel Face" is a radio noir set in New York City and narrated in the first person by Jerry Wheeler, a girl with an angelic face and a hard life as a nightclub performer. She does it all for her kid brother, Chick, whom she wants to see rise above their circumstances.

Chick gets himself into a serious mess when he hooks up with Ruby Rose Reading, the girlfriend of a mobster named Milt Militis.  Over his sister's objections, Chick plans to go with Ruby on a trip to Chicago. When Ruby is murdered that evening, Chick takes the fall. Jerry knows her kid brother didn't commit the murder and she sets out, with the help of one of the detectives, to prove his innocence.  As Chick heads for the electric chair, she has to work fast to find the real killer.

This episode was based on Cornell Woolrich's short story "Face Work" which was first published in the October 1937 issue of Black Mask magazine.  Columbia Pictures bought the rights shortly after it was published and turned it into the 1938 B-movie Convicted starring Rita Hayworth.

Suspense's version of "Angel Face" retains portions of the original text in the dialogue but changes the story, particularly at the end. Their version does keep the quick pace and the basic plot, but it was reduced in a number of ways to accomodate a half-hour radio format. Not surprisingly, Suspense' s version skips over the scene where Jerry is branded on the hip with a hot poker by Milt Militis.

Although the announcer states that this episode was "an original play written for radio by Cornell Woolrich," it was not. It is generally believed that Woolrich did not write the adaptations of his stories that appeared on radio.

"Angel Face" stars "Queen of Film Noir" Claire Trevor and Joseph Kearns. It was produced, edited and probably adapted for radio by William Spier. (The obvious problem with this recording is that it seems to run a bit fast, particularly at the beginning. After checking a few other OTR repositories, a better recording was not to be found.)

This episode aired on May 18, 1950.

Download Suspense.1950.05.18.Angel_ Face.mp3

(Image by Clayton Lord from Word for Word Theater's current production of Angel Face in San Francisco. Pictured above are Paul Finochiarrio and Laura Lowry as Milt and Jerry. )

Escape - The Match

Escape's "The Match" is the story of a Canadian Mountie and the fugitive that he is determined to bring to justice.

The story begins in a logging camp on the southern border of Canada where one of the employees, Billy Loring, has a problem. Billy's wife, Jeannie, has admitted to him that his brutish boss harasses her. When Billy confronts him about it, the boss pulls a knife. Billy knocks him down and in doing so, accidentally kills him. Convinced that no one will believe it was an accident, he escapes into the backwoods of Canada to hide.

Seargent Brokaw of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is assigned to bring Billy back to hang for murder. The story between the two plays out in the frozen wilderness where Billy has been hiding, waiting for the chance to return to his wife and child.

"The Match" was based on the short story by James Oliver Curwood (1879-1927) of Michigan. The short story is available online at the Short Story Archive.  During the 1920's, Curwood's wilderness adventure stories, often set in Canada, made him one of the most popular novelists in North America. Many of his works were adapted for film and television after his death. Curwood was also an early wilderness conservationist who served on the Michigan Conservation Commission.

"The Match" was adapted for Escape by Les Crutchfield. It was produced and directed by Norman McDonald. Frank Lovejoy played Billy and Sergeant Brokaw was played by Wilm Herbert. Sam Waxman was the narrator. This episode aired on May 16, 1948.

.  Download Escape.1948.05.16_Match_The.mp3

(Image from MorgueFile.com)

Suspense - The Trap

In Suspense's "The Trap" we meet Helen, a woman who lives by herself in a big, empty house. That is, she thought she lived alone, but now she isn't sure. It seems that there is someone else in the house with her. Someone who whistles, steals muffins from the breadbox, and winds the clock. Someone who also seems determined to get her out of the house. Helen's boss thinks she is just seeing, "dark omens and bloody portents in normal everyday occurrences."  Helen thinks he is stupid.

This is a suspenseful story about a woman and the unseen enemy who appears to be arranging a long vacation for her.

Agnes Moorehead plays Helen, a sweet and patient lady who couldn't possibly have any enemies. "The Trap" was adapted for Suspense by Walter Brown Newman and Ralph Rose from a story by Virginia Meyer. This episode aired on June 16, 1949.

.  Download Suspense.1949.06.16.The_Trap.mp3

(Image from MorgueFile.com)

News from Escape and Suspense!

If you are a fan of Cornell Woolrich's stories on Suspense, then you may be interested in an upcoming theatrical production of one of his short stories.

Angel Face, presented by the Word for Word Performing Arts Theater Company, is a new stage presentation that will run from August 10th to September 2nd at the Project Artaud Theater in San Francisco.

The Word for Word Theater Company specializes in presenting short stories accurately and in the manner in which the author intended them. Now, we know that with a Woolrich story, that can't possibly mean a dull evening.

For more information about Angel Face and tickets contact The Z Space Studio.

Escape - Conquerer's Isle

Escape's "Conquerer's Isle" begins with a burst of organ music and then draws us into the story of a lost Navy bomber crew in the South China Sea during WWII. Their plane is damaged, lost in a typhoon, and then forced to make an emergency landing on a small uncharted island.

Not long after they land the three Navy flyers are greeted by one of the island's residents, Dr. Grove, who takes them to a mysterious elevator. They don't want to accompany him, but he insists. Dr. Grove then leads them down into a wondrous underground city that belongs to a civilization of advanced human beings. Their community is one of advanced learning and evolved understanding. It is populated by humans who have been drawn to the island by telepathy. They are "the next stage" of evolution and their underground realm is where they study, build, and prepare for the day when their numbers are large enough to take over the Earth. At that point, they will become the "friendly guardians" of the rest of humanity. The Navy flyers trapped in this world are now their pets.

"Conquerer's Isle" was written by Nelson Bond and adapted for radio by John Dunkel. It was produced and directed by Norman McDonald. Dr. Grove was played by Bill Johnstone. Lieutenant Brady was played by David Ellis and Dr. Gorham was played by Ted von Eltz. Special music was arranged and played by Ivan Ditmars. This episode aired on March 5, 1949.

.  Download Escape.1949.03.05.Conquerors_ Isle.mp3

(Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Best or Worst? - Riabouchinska

Suspense's "Riabouchinska" is introduced with some narration. It continues with more and still more narration. There is too much narration.

"Riabouchinska" is the story of a ventriloquist, the woman that he once loved, and the ventriloquist's dummy that he created in her image. There is also his wife, her boyfriend, and a blackmailer. Wally Maher plays the police detective who investigates the murder of the blackmailer. Joseph Kearns stars as John Fabian the ventriloquist and Lurene Tuttle stars as the high-pitched voice of Riabouchinska, the ventriloquist's dummy.

The version of this story done for television by Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the better version of the two. Claude Rains plays the tragic and deluded John Fabian, and a young Charles Bronson plays the detective who uncovers the sad truth between Fabian and his puppet. Both episodes were based on the short story "And so Died Riabouchinska" by Ray Bradbury. Suspense's radio-play and the tele-play for Alfred Hitchcock Presents were both written by Mel Dinelli.

The narrator is Armana Fargey, a pseudonym for actress June Havoc. This episode aired on November 13, 1947. A different version of "Riabouchinska" appeared on television in 1988, for an episode of Ray Bradbury Theater.

Download Suspense.1947.11.13_Riabouchinska.mp3

(Image from Morguefile.com)

Molle Mystery Theater - The Rival Dummy

Molle Mystery Theater's "The Rival Dummy" is, in their words, "a macabre adventure into the strange workings of an unbalanced mind."

"The Rival Dummy" begins with a murder, and then goes back to explain just what did, or didn't, happen. The drama centers on the tense relationship between the ventriloquist Gabbo the Great and his dummy, Jimmy. There is also Rubina, a second-rate performer, who makes the mistake of getting involved with this act. Gabbo is in love with her, but Jimmy is fed up with the no-talent bimbo that has joined them. When Gabbo smacks Jimmy for bad-mouthing Rubina, things get worse. Their manager wants Gabbo to see a psychiatrist, but it is already too late to save their doomed act.

This 1946 radio-play starring Walter Slezak and the 1929 movie The Great Gabbo starring Erich Von Stroheim were both based on the 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy" by Ben Hecht. The movie was not a horror story, although it is often marketed as one. Molle Mystery Theater's version is a murder mystery with a pinch of horror thrown in at the end. The sound quality of this recording isn't perfect but it isn't so bad as to be distracting. "The Rival Dummy" was also adapted for television and performed on the television show Studio One in 1949.

.  Download TheRivalDummy.1946.11.01.mp3

(Image from Amazon.com)