Today's Suspense episode is "A Good and Faithful Servant" (June 2, 1952) featuring radio comedy star Jack Benny! This was the second of four appearances Benny made on Suspense.
Harold Fenton (Benny) is a meek, long-time sales clerk who claims to have been locked in the store vault while $50,000 was stolen. Actually, Fenton stole the money himself and has a near-perfect plan to keep it-- but one of his co-workers suspects the truth.
Benny's other Suspense appearances all have some element of comedy; I chose to feature this one because it offered Benny an entirely dramatic turn; he was actually good at drama when he was given a chance, but he had such a well-known comic persona that he seldom received opportunities to demonstrate.
Today's Suspense episode is "Ghost Hunt" (June 23, 1949) starring radio comedy host Ralph Edwards, best-known for the radio game show Truth or Consequences (1940-1957)! It's based on a supernatural tale written by Herbert Russell Wakefield. About time we had some spooks this October!
In this episode, Smiley Smith takes a tour of a supposedly haunted house, speaking into a radio microphone as he takes in his impressions of his surroundings. But this haunted house is for real.
Edwards is perfect in his part, especially as the tension starts to ratchet up towards the end.
Today's Suspense episode is "Feast of the Furies" (July 11, 1946) starring Sheldon Leonard, best-remembered as a supporting player on radio shows such as the Jack Benny Program (where he played the racetrack tout) and the Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show (where he played Grogan, the counterfeiter). Leonard plays opposite Elliott Reid.
In this grim episode, Casey (Leonard) has been hired to arrange the death of Sam (Reid). Sam tries to reason with Casey and explains the circumstances that led to him being targeted-- but Casey is single-minded.
Leonard's tough guy voice was usually employed for comedic efforts but it worked just as well here in this dramatic part - this is just a terrific episode of Suspense all around.
Today's Suspense episode is "Early to Death" (April 12, 1951) featuring the husband/wife duo of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. This was the second time they had appeared together on Suspense (Lucille also had a number of terrific Suspense episodes without Desi). Their television series I Love Lucy debuted just a few months after this broadcast!
This time out, Evie (Lucille Ball) steals a fortune with her confederate but then Rico (Desi Arnaz) shows up demanding he get a cut of their profits.
Lucille Ball was always great on Suspense; I don't think Desi Arnaz comes off as well in his role (he's a bit too happy-go-lucky) but this is still a fine episode.
Today's Suspense episode is "Dream Song" (November 6, 1947) featuring radio comedian Henry Morgan, known best as the star of the Henry Morgan Show (1946-1947)!
In "Dream Song," Morgan portrays an author who is trying to concentrate on writing a novel when he hears music, apparently from one of the neighbours in his apartment. Soon he learns that each time the music plays, someone dies!
I think Morgan comes off well in this program - his deadpan mode of comedy suggested he had a serious side and that comes out in this Suspense episode!
Today's Suspense episode is "Death on My Hands" (May 10, 1951) with the husband/wife radio comedy couple Phil Harris and Alice Faye, stars of their own series the Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show (1946-1954)!
In this episode, Harris plays a character very much like himself - a jazz musician named "Dixie." While stopped in a small town, Dixie's gun accidentally goes off and kills a teenage girl. With no police in town, Dixie intends to wait until they return so he can clear up the situation-- but then a lynch mob forms outside his hotel, intent on storming the building!
The script was written by John Michael Hayes, a long-time Suspense writer, but after Alfred Hitchcock listened to the program he hired Hayes to work on his film Rear Window; Hayes left radio behind for the movies, meaning this episode of Suspense was a little too good for the show! I think Phil and Alice came off very well in this program; it's definitely a rarity to hear Harris in dramatic role, especially a story with such a daunting situation.
Often at Halloween, I like to spend each day of October looking at a single episode of a terrific old-time radio program that falls into the horror or suspense genre. And what series better fits that descriptor than Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills?
But this year, I'm looking at 31 episodes of Suspense that feature a leading performance by an actor best known for their work in comedy. This was an innovation Suspense fell into very early on, to use their program as a showcase for comedic talents to flex their dramatic muscles and demonstrate more of their range than what their ususal radio/film roles provided. Did it always work? That's one of the questions I'll be asking!
Let's start with: "Backseat Driver" (February 3, 1949). featuring the husband/wife duo Jim and Marian Jordan, better known as Fibber McGee and Molly, a pair of radio comedians (their show ran from 1935-1959). The Jordans play a married couple coming back from the movies who find themselves held at gunpoint by an escaped criminal who forces them to transport him in their car.
The Jordans come off very well in this story. I think it helps that as Fibber McGee and Molly they were always very laid-back homefolk- they're very similar people in "Backseat Driver."
The script was performed two more times on Suspense (February 22, 1951 and July 19, 1955), but without the Jordans.
