Suspense - The Lodger (First Episode)

Suspense premiered on July 22, 1940, with an episode called "The Lodger." The show aired on a CBS program called Forecast, which premiered the pilot episodes of new series. Although the response to the first episode of Suspense was good, it would be another two years before the series would begin its twenty year run.

The radio-play for "The Lodger" was based on the 1913 novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes and Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 silent film The Lodger. The premier episode of Suspense is notable primarily because it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. (For more information about the first show click here.)

Below is a three minute clip of the mob scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger.

(Video from YouTube.com)

Comments

[hashi-tashi]

Lately, I have been rediscovering my love of Suspense and found this blog. About 20 years ago I first heard "House on Cyprus Canyon" & "Fugue in C Minor" on a tape from the local library...I was hooked!

Since then over the next few years I always got boxed sets of Suspense shows for holidays. I must've listened to these tapes hundred-fold!

Now it's 2009 and unfortunately my tapes are long gone, but thanks to the miracle of the internet I have every episode I remember having PLUS HUNDREDS more I have never heard (found them on IA).

I love the internet. Although nothing will ever replace the feeling of entering a library amongst the musty old books and spending hours just for the sake of discovering new things (like I once did with Suspense), the internet in some ways saves time and now I can permanently 'borrow' things without the fear of a 15 cent late fee! :)

Thanks for providing this blog, I will have fun exploring all the posts!

[Grigs]

Hashi-Tashi, it just so happens, that I have a cassette with "Fugue" and "House", only I bought mine at Cracker Barrel fo $4.99. And, yes, you will have hours of fun exploring this site.

[cmillinsf]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you found us. I discovered Suspense when I signed up for a membership at RUSC.com a few years back. (Their website makes it really easy to explore all kinds of old time radio shows.) The internet has now made old time radio so accessible, that it has brought in a whole new audience.

When I was kid, however, I did have a cassette of Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy that I loved and completely wore out. I can still repeat most of the jokes on that cassette even after twenty years. -Christine

[john]

If you like Escape and Suspense...give the Whistler a try...very underrated show..west coast only...i feel its way better than Escape or Suspense!