The program's heyday was in the early 1950s, when radio actor, producer and director Elliott Lewis took over (still during the Wilcox/Autolite run). Here the material reached new levels of sophistication. The writing was taut, and the casting, which had always been a strong point of the series (featuring such film stars as Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, Eve McVeagh, Lena Horne, and Cary Grant), took an unexpected turn when Lewis expanded the repertory to include many of radio's famous drama and comedy stars — often playing against type — such as Jack Benny. Jim and Marian Jordan of Fibber McGee and Molly were heard in the episode, "Backseat Driver," which originally aired February 3, 1949. The highest production values enhanced Suspense, and many of the shows retain their power to grip and entertain. At the time he took over Suspense, Lewis was familiar to radio fans for playing Frankie Remley, the wastrel guitar-playing sidekick to Phil Harris in The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. On the May 10, 1951 Suspense, Lewis reversed the roles with "Death on My Hands": A bandleader (Harris) is horrified when an autograph-seeking fan accidentally shoots herself and dies in his hotel room, and a vocalist (Faye) tries to help him as the townfolk call for vigilante justice against him. With the rise of television and the departures of Lewis and Autolite, subsequent producers (Antony Ellis, William N. Robson and others) struggled to maintain the series despite shrinking budgets, the availability of fewer name actors, and listenership decline. To save money, the program frequently used scripts first broadcast by another noteworthy CBS anthology, Escape. In addition to these tales of exotic adventure, Suspense expanded its repertoire to include more science fiction and supernatural content. By the end of its run, the series was remaking scripts from the long-canceled program The Mysterious Traveler. A time travel tale like Robert Arthur's "The Man Who Went Back to Save Lincoln" or a thriller about a death ray-wielding mad scientist would alternate with more run-of-the-mill crime dramas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspense_%28radio_drama%29

Comments

1. house in cypress canyon😍 , i love it almost as much as roma wine...and lipton tea 😉
2. can you buy all 946 shows please let me know acameron6622@gmail
3. Suspense is a favorite since I was a kid with the lights out and a smuggled radio hidden by my pillow. I think they may have known, but my parents never let on if they did. I had to get up at five to finsh my five hours of daily homework before the traveling to school, so it was risky staying awake to listen. Suspense can keep a kid on edge believe me.
4. That last one was very interesting i enjoyed it
5. I'm a huge fan of Radio and it's great that it is still alive! Thanks for keeping it alive!
   I remember driving home listening to programs such as Suspense and The House in Cypress Canyon being a favorite!
6. Thank you for sharing. Mare
7. I love this show , I wish the missing 6 shows from 1943 were released to the public.
   you can buy all 946 shows of Suspense at, OTRCATdotcom
8. ROFL the comment below about the captions... they're right, they are hilarious! Lol
9. Thanks for the shows. Anyway you can post the original air date?
10. Thanks for putting this up, I enjoyed it immensely. This is no way a criticism, but put on the subtitles they are hilarious. Please read it is funniest thing.