The Unexpected was a syndicated radio mystery program that aired 1947-1948. It was only 15-minutes so the stories had to be pretty breezy! What it offered were surprise endings; plenty of programs promised surprise endings, but
the Unexpected really delivered - the surprises weren't just tragic outcomes but also happy outcomes! I blogged about
the Unexpected series
in this Radio Recap entry.
An unusual episode is "Voodoo Night" from November 7, 1948 starring Barry Sullivan (who starred in most episodes of the Unexpected). Sullivan portrays a doctor in Haiti who runs up against voodoo practitioners. When he opposes them they place a curse on him!
You can hear "Voodoo Night" at the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library!
2 comments:
I wonder how often someone crosses a voodoo practitioner and the practitioner is like, "eh, not worth the effort I will just let it go"?
Nope, things always turn out badly whenever there is someone practicing voodoo. Escape had a great episode about voodoo and things turned out badly for this jazz guy. Witch doctors are similar in OTR. Don't piss them off even if you are not superstitious. Having lived in a country where voodoo is widely practiced (Brazil), I know enough not to topple macumba offerings of manioc and rice even if I don't "believe".
Still enjoying your many recommendations and checking pretty much all of them out and they have improved my life, particularly because they led me back to South African OTR which I love, and Suspense, which I like but am beginning to admire for the major stars. It's amazing how many famous people are on there and I adore James Mason and Ronald Colman who both appear fairly often.
There used to be something called a mid-Atlantic accent which was a bit like a blend of an upper class American Boston/NY accent with a British one and you hear it frequently on Suspense among men and women. It is non-rhotic unlike most Americans and virtually all Canadians. Grace Kelly spoke a version as did Vincent Price and Cary Grant. North By Northwest had Grant and Mason in it with the dueling mid-Atlantic accents. It comes across as very classy and it a quite noticeable departure nowadays compared to say, 40's and 50's cinema which seemed just so much more stylish and classy. Aesthetics matter so much to me in terms of the media I consume.
Best,
Janey
Hello Jane!
Yes, the Escape episode "Papa Benjamin" is a winner - a very good horror tale by Cornell Woolrich.
I rather like the mid-Atlantic accent - I think Katharine Hepburn was the most notorious one to use it in films, but you're right, it always sounded distinguished.
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