Suspense is a classic radio anthology series that originally aired from 1940 to 1962, offering high-quality storytelling with top-notch performances from a talented roster of actors, including stars like Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, and Cary Grant. Known for its tagline, “Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills,” the show featured a wide array of stories penned by some of the best writers in the genre, including the likes of John Collier and Lucille Fletcher. Each episode was written to keep listeners on the edge of their seats, with a mix of original scripts and adaptations of popular literary works.
Though some episodes have been lost, most of the approximately 945 episodes can still be heard online today.
Story by: Marie Belloc Lowndes
Adapted by: Unconfirmed. Some sources state that Harold Medford and Robert Tallman wrote the script, but it’s also possible Hitchcock’s assistant Joan Morrison was involved with the adaptation.
Broadcast date: July 22, 1940
Cast: Joseph Kearns, Edmund Gwenn, Herbert Marshall, Lurene Tuttle, Noreen Gammill
This was an audition episode for the show, which aired on the CBS Forecast radio program, where the decision to pick up new shows was based on audience reception. Unfortunately, it would be two more years before CBS decided to move forward with Suspense. This episode was based on the Hitchcock’s 1927 silent film, which was adapted from the 1913 book by Belloc Lowndes. Multiple sources state that although Hitchcock’s name was attached to the project, he was not actually involved in directing it, and actor Joseph Kearns (who would later return to the show as the “Man in Black”) impersonated him here. Unlike Hitchcock’s film version (and to the dismay of many listeners) this adaptation is true to Belloc Lowndes’ original, more ambiguous ending. Suspense would do this story twice more during its run.
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