A man of both taste and ambition, William Spier began his tenure with Suspense by gathering his cast and crew together and giving them the word that, from now on, they would all play an intrinsic part in the creation of each show. As with any sustained show, budgets were tight - but this didn’t mean that the people Spier had to work with didn’t have talents and abilities far greater than they had usually been given the chance to display.
Spier called upon musical director Bernard Hermann and, later, Lucien Moraweck to not only write and conduct cues for each show, but asked that their music play a role in each drama - almost as if it were another character. Sound effects man Berne Surrey, who was used to being giving a list of the necessary effects for each show just a few hours before the broadcast, now found himself working side by side with Spier to plot out where the various sounds would be most effective and just what they should be.
Spier expected nothing less than perfection from his actors, young but widely experienced radio hands such as Roger De Koven, Hans Conreid, Alice Frost, Helen Lewis, Ted Osborne, Frank Readick, Martin Gabel, Ted de Corsia, and Michael Fitzmaurice. He was also willing to risk on-air disaster by often throwing them a curve at the last minute. Spier wanted a tense, edge-of-your-seat kind of show — and the best way to get this, in his opinion, was by keeping his entire cast and crew as tense and on-edge as the audience would be. This is why Suspense grew into the radio powerhouse it became and why fans still thrill to it today.
Discover how this program is truly the total package, expertly written stories, top performances from radio’s best actors, quality production values, and enough terror and mystery to make it fun. Suspense, Volume 17 presents ten hours of this radio classic restored to Sparkling audio quality by Radio Archives.
Elwood
Thursday, March 6, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
You Take Ballistics
Thursday, March 13, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Double Ugly
Thursday, March 27, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
The Swift Rise of Eddie Albright
Thursday, April 3, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Community Property
Thursday, April 10, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
The Green-Eyed Monster
Thursday, April 17, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Win, Place, and Murder
Thursday, April 24, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Lady in Distress
Thursday, May 1, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Dead Ernest
Thursday, May 8, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Death at Live Oak
Thursday, May 15, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Night Comes Riding
Thursday, May 22, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
A Thing of Beauty
Thursday, May 29, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Make Mad the Guilty
Thursday, June 5, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Stand In
Thursday, June 12, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Dead of Night
Thursday, June 19, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Phobia
Thursday, June 26, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Money Talks
Thursday, July 3, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Murder by the Book
Thursday, July 10, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Murder by an Expert
Thursday, July 24, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
Mortmain
Thursday, July 31, 1947 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Roma Wines
