Obsession was a syndicated radio program that aired on CBS from 1950-1952. Despite its lengthy run and syndicated nature, we have surprisingly little of the show - just 30 episodes. There's also very little information about the background behind the show, other than it was produced by C.P. MacGregor. A newspaper advertisement called the program a "mystery" and "whodunnit" program but that's a little generous.
So what was Obsession? It was sometimes a mystery anthology program - sometimes simply a dramatic anthology program. Most of the shows appear to be original scripts but there were also scripts recycled from earlier radio shows. The broadcasts offer incomplete creative credits and most episodes don't seem to have their titles spoken on the program itself.
The casts, however, were pretty strong - not only did the series employ a lot of great Hollywood radio talent - Elliot Lewis, Barton Yarborough, Howard McNear, William Conrad, Bill Johnstone - but there's even an episode with Vincent Price in the lead.
Obsession is, in many ways, not very good. The audio quality of the surviving 30 episodes is frequently poor. The stories themselves are frequently unremarkable, despite the good casts. Frequently the show felt like a Suspense imitator, and probably the Vincent Price episode is the best example of how Obsession failed at what Suspense did near-flawlessly for 20 years. (plot spoilers ahead) The episode features Vincent Price as a prisoner being escorted by a policeman on a train. Price kills the policeman in the compartment then tries to find a way off the train while pretending that he himself is the policeman. The story meanders about for a time until the prisoner tries to escape by jumping off the train. The scene shifts to a news office where we learn he was instantly killed by a train passing the opposite direction.
It's... a really bad ending. The scenes of the prisoner on the train trying to effect an escape - that's a pretty good premise. But for him to be killed essentially off-mike - that's bad. It's radio - the sound effects should suggest his demise, and there should be an eyewitness to the event who explains what happened. William Spier could've dramatized a moment like that in his sleep; Obsession did not fire on all cylinders.
But while I've remarked on the show's resemblance to Suspense I should not fail to note that one episode (which circulates as "Blackout Killer") is recycled from an early Suspense script - "Voyage Through Darkness." It's not as good as the Suspense production (which had Olivia de Haviland instead of Ruth Warrick) but the quality is noticeably higher than the typical Obsession fare. There's also an adaptation of "the Silver Cord," a popular stage play by Sidney Howard which was adapted for radio in a few other places. It's likely, therefore, that other episodes are likewise adaptations.
As something of a stepchild to Suspense, Obsession might be of interest to devotees. But, for the first time in this series of blog posts, I can't recommend the program at all. You can hear the surviving episodes in the collection held by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group on the Internet Archive, but really, there's much better programs out there. Caveat emptor.
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