Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

Olivia de Havilland won two Oscars during her six decade screen career, and she's still making news today. The star of Gone With the Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood was a true legend of old Hollywood, but she only made one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in a shipboard thriller in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944) and in a radio creation of one of her award-nominated roles in Hold Back the Dawn from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1946).

Some of the twentieth century's best singers made visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" during the twenty year run of Suspense. This week, we'll hear two of them in uncharacteristic dark and dramatic roles. First, Frank Sinatra is a deranged madman tormenting Agnes Moorehead in "To Find Help" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from January 18, 1945). Then, Rosemary Clooney stars and sings in "St. James Infirmary Blues" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1953), a tale of crime and love in the Roaring Twenties.

With his leading man looks and his mellifluous voice, Ronald Colman was a star of both the silent and talking eras of Hollywood. His appearances on radio gave the Oscar winner a chance to put that voice to good use, whether he and his wife Benita Hume were clowning around with Jack Benny or whether Colman was making one of his six visits to Suspense. We’ll hear him in “August Heat” (originally aired on May 31, 1945) and “A Vision of Death” (originally aired on March 8, 1951).

A star in front of and behind the camera, Ida Lupino was one of Hollywood’s first female directors and producers. She turned in memorable performances in movies like High Sierra and On Dangerous Ground before she established her own production company and embarked on a long career of directing for the big and small screens. We’ll hear Ida Lupino in “Summer Night” (originally aired on CBS on July 15, 1948) and “The Bullet” (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1949).

Cary Grant returns to the podcast for one last “tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” We’ll hear the legendary leading man in “The Black Path of Fear” (an Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of an episode originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1946). Then, he recreates his big screen role from Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion in The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1946).

Gene Kelly dances his way to “radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills” in two shows that are miles away from his screen persona. The star of An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain leaves his dazzling footwork at the door for a pair of tense, well-calculated tails: “Thieves Fall Out” (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1943) and “Death Went Along for the Ride” (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1944).

Gregory Peck returns to “Stars On Suspense” in two old time radio thrillers – a pair of tales about the dangers that can lurk on the highway. First, Peck thumbs a ride with the wrong man in “Hitch-Hike Poker” (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Then, he’s a grieving father looking for revenge on a drunk driver in “Nightmare” (originally aired on CBS on September 1, 1949).

Glamorous leading lady Lana Turner had a career that spanned five decades from her discovery at a Hollywood café all the way up to her final television appearances. But the Oscar-nominated actress had a tumultuous personal life – including a murder scandal – that could overshadow her screen work. In her two appearances on Suspense, Turner showed off her versatility in a pair of very different roles. We’ll hear her as a woman terrorized by a painting in “Fear Paints a Picture” (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1945). Then, she’s a detective investigating her own husband in “The Flame Blue Glove” (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1949).

One of the great gangster stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Edward G. Robinson excelled at playing all types of characters over his fifty year career. From Nazi hunters to cagey sleuths to desperate criminals, Robinson delivered memorable performances with a signature style that is still imitated today. We'll hear him in an unusual double role as himself and as "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Then, he's a man out to profit from his alleged demise in "You Can't Die Twice" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949).

Known as "the queen of film noir," Claire Trevor was amazing on screen as tough dames and gun molls (including Murder, My Sweet and her Oscar-winning turn in Key Largo). But the actress could play more than noir as she demonstrated over long career in movies like Stagecoach and The High and the Mighty. We'll hear two of her visits to Suspense - a series where she got to put her talent at playing tough women to good use: "The Plan" (originally aired on CBS on May 16, 1946) and "The Blue Hour" (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1947).

Before she was a TV star, and even before she kept audiences smiling with her radio comedy series, Lucille Ball delivered tough noir performances in episodes of Suspense. She was as talented in the world of drama and thrills as she was with slapstick and a punchline. The red-headed legend returns for two more “tales well calculated” – “The Ten Grand” (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1944) and “A Shroud for Sarah” (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1945).

Two comedy legends trade jokes and laughs for thrills and chills when they visit “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” First, Bob Hope plays a man who has an appointment with a murderer in “Death Has a Shadow” (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Then, Milton Berle is an actor whose greatest role could keep him out of the electric chair in “Rave Notice” (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950).

Whether he was singing and dancing, breaking the law, or wielding a grapefruit, James Cagney never failed to deliver energetic, compelling performances on the big screen. The Oscar-winner gave audiences a series of memorable roles that are still admired – and imitated – today. For his first appearance on Suspense, Cagney returned to the world of gangster drama in an hour-long radio adaptation of James M. Cain’s “Love’s Lovely Counterfeit” (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1948).

Bette Davis made only one appearance on Suspense, but it was a doozy. The two-time Oscar winner and ten-time nominee stands as one of the biggest legends of old Hollywood with a career and tumultuous personal life that continues to fascinate fans today. We’ll hear her in “Goodnight Mrs. Russell,” originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1949. Plus, she reprises her award-winning role from Jezebel in a production from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1946).

Jack Benny sets down his violin and climbs out of his Maxwell for his final appearances on Suspense. Radio’s most popular comedian returns to “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” as a Martian on a mission in “Plan X” (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953) and a reluctant bank robber in “The Face is Familiar” (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1954).

Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard were the stars of their own long-running radio and television sitcoms, but before they took their adventures to TV they made a pair of memorable appearances on Suspense. Playing effectively against type, the Nelsons showed listeners a different side of themselves in these tense, dramatic stories. We’ll hear them in “Too Little to Live On” (originally aired on December 26, 1947) and “Going, Going, Gone” (originally aired on November 23, 1950).

Long before he wore the white coat of Marcus Welby, MD and even before Father Knows Best, Robert Young was a big screen star making visits to Suspense. Those only familiar with him from those kindly, classic TV characters may be surprised at the performances he gives on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “The Night Reveals” (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943) and “You’ll Never See Me Again” (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946).

In two appearances on Suspense, Danny Kaye traded singing, dancing, and his trademark silliness for thrills and chills. The star of White Christmas and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty plays very effectively against type as a man plotting a murder and another framed for a killing. We'll hear "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949) and "I Never Met the Dead Man" (originally aired on CBS on January 5, 1950).

Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter was a mainstay on stage and the big and small screens over her long career- from her first films at age 17 to her Oscar win for The Razor's Edge and her nomination for the title role in All About Eve. We'll hear two of her appearances on Suspense: a story of jealousy and murder on Madison Avenue in "Always Room at the Top" (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1947; and in the dramatization of a legendary folk song in "The Death of Barbara Allen" (originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1952).

Vincent Price returns to “Stars On Suspense” for two more installments from “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” The big screen master of horror lends his voice to these chilling mysteries that deliver surprising twists before the final curtain. We’ll hear him in “Fugue in C Minor” (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944) and “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948).