Suspense | Old Time Radio

Suspense presents “The Blue Hour,” identified in this archival source as episode 5, originally broadcast September 2, 1947.

Claire Trevor stars as dancer Lois LePaul, who arrives at a shadowy nightclub while questions swirl around a recent murder and a valuable diamond. Written by Marty Schwartz, this noir-tinged drama also features Wally Maher and Hans Conried.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:40 Original Broadcast
30:31 Closing

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Suspense presents “The Night Reveals,” originally broadcast December 9, 1943. This local archival recording is identified as episode 9, though established program logs list this Robert Young and Margo production as episode 69.

Insurance investigator Harry Jordan is drawn into a troubling series of unexplained fires that begins to feel uncomfortably close to home. Adapted from a Cornell Woolrich story, this psychological domestic thriller stars Robert Young as Harry and Margo as his wife, Marie, and was directed by William Spier.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audi...

Suspense presents “Three Skeleton Key,” an archival recording labeled Episode 1 with an original broadcast date of November 1, 1956. Episode references identify this production as Suspense episode 673, originally broadcast on CBS on November 11, 1956.

On an isolated lighthouse key off French Guiana, three keepers watch a crewless ship drift onto the reef—and find their lonely outpost under threat. Vincent Price stars as Jean in James Poe’s adaptation of Georges-Gustave Toudouze’s short story, directed by William N. Robson.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for...

Suspense presents “Murder by the Book,” listed in the supplied archival metadata as episode 0, with an original broadcast date of July 1, 1947. Multiple episode logs, however, identify it as episode 253, originally aired July 10, 1947.

Gloria Swanson stars as mystery novelist Emily Carlyle, whose troubling memory lapses and personal grief shadow her involvement in a psychiatrist’s murder case. As Emily looks beyond the circumstantial evidence against a young woman in custody, the investigation becomes an unnervingly personal mystery. Joseph Kearns co-stars as Lieutenant Hahn in this CBS broadcast, written by Robert L. Richards.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a...

Suspense presents “An Evening’s Diversion,” originally broadcast July 4, 1946. This archival recording is identified as episode 4, though established series logs list the broadcast as episode 200. Leon Ames stars, with Gerald Mohr also featured, in this CBS presentation sponsored by Roma Wines.

Overworked businessman Mr. Edwards follows his doctor’s advice to take an evening off, only to find his quiet visit to a bar or restaurant disrupted by an overheard conversation and a troubling situation that demands his attention.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned...

Suspense presents “Dame Fortune,” listed in the supplied archival metadata as episode 4, with an original broadcast date of October 2, 1946. Independent program listings identify it as episode 216, broadcast October 24, 1946.

Susan Hayward stars as Jean Nicholson, a successful singer whose comfortable life is shaken by a call from Charlie Prescott, a man connected to her past. As old secrets resurface, Jean and her husband are drawn into a tense blackmail threat. The noir-tinged drama was written by Max Wilk and Ed Murkland and directed by William Spier.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a sh...

Suspense presents “Yellow Wall-paper,” episode 9, originally broadcast July 2, 1948.

Agnes Moorehead stars as a woman sent to an isolated summer house while recovering from what her physician husband calls a temporary nervous depression. Adapted from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story, this intimate psychological drama follows her growing fixation on the unsettling wallpaper in her upstairs room. Produced by Anton M. Leder for CBS’s Autolite-sponsored Suspense.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00...

Suspense presents “Dead Ernest,” originally broadcast May 8, 1947. This archival recording is listed as episode 8. Written by Seeleg Lester and Merwin Gerard and directed by William Spier, the CBS Radio Network drama features Junius Matthews, Wally Maher, Howard Duff, and Cathy Lewis.

After an automobile accident, Ernest Bowers is presumed dead despite a condition that can make him appear otherwise. As Lieutenant Steve Healey and the authorities follow the trail through police and coroner procedures, a misplaced warning may be the only safeguard against a terrible mistake.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual intr...

Suspense presents “Beyond Reason,” originally broadcast on CBS on February 21, 1948. Episode 285 of the series, this hour-long drama stars Robert Ryan and Ruth Warrick and was written by Devery Freeman.

After businessman Payton Carr is killed in a hit-and-run, his estate passes to his three daughters. Eldest daughter Vangie grows uneasy when an unknown business partner, Harry Newton, shows an interest in both the family’s undeveloped land and Vangie herself. As tensions mount at the Carr estate, she struggles to tell grief and coincidence from a more troubling threat.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly...

Suspense presents “The Long Shot,” originally broadcast February 9, 1958, and supplied here as episode 9. This CBS thriller is a remake of Harold Swanton’s earlier Suspense story, with Herbert Marshall starring as financially pressed gambler Kelly Raymond.

Raymond answers an Englishman’s newspaper advertisement seeking a companion for a drive from New York to San Francisco. But as the miles pass, the increasingly talkative Walker Hendricks, played by Ben Wright, gives Raymond reason to question the true purpose of their cross-country journey.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gent...

Suspense presents “Deep into Darkness,” listed in this archival collection as episode 2, with an original broadcast date of July 2, 1948. Episode-level radio logs also identify the Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. production as Suspense #299, originally broadcast July 22, 1948.

After seven years in prison for manslaughter, Ken Matthews is released and makes an impossible discovery: the man he believed dead appears to be alive. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., with Joseph Kearns and Lurene Tuttle, this tense CBS Radio mystery was written by Edward James and directed by Anton M. Leader.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a sh...

Suspense presents “Allen in Wonderland,” identified in this archival recording as episode 7, originally broadcast October 2, 1952. Episode listings also associate the production with CBS’s Suspense broadcast of October 27, 1952, starring Cornell Wilde.

Stranded in New York’s Pennsylvania Station, South Carolina attorney Mr. Stone is mistaken for someone else by a mysterious young woman who leaves him with an Alice in Wonderland quotation and a cryptic instruction. His attempt to follow the clue leads to West 15th Street and a troubling chain of coincidences. Written by Richard Chandlee and directed by Elliott Lewis.

Suspense presents the original broadcas...

Suspense presents “The Long Wait,” episode 4, originally broadcast November 2, 1949. This archival recording features a hard-boiled drama of revenge, loyalty, and second chances.

Recently released from prison, Dan Varrell returns to Manhattan still haunted by his brother’s death. His search leads him to Lois Williams and the dangerous world surrounding her, while a police lieutenant keeps a close watch. Burt Lancaster stars as Dan Varrell in an original play by Fred Freiberger.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listen...

Suspense presents “The Thing in the Window,” episode 9, originally broadcast December 1, 1946. Joseph Cotten stars in this original radio play by Lucille Fletcher.

Actor Martin Aimes becomes obsessed with a shadowy figure he sees in a window across the street—though no one else can confirm it is there. As sleepless doubt and suspicion take hold, he must confront the unsettling possibility that the truth lies beyond anything he can explain.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.
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Suspense presents “Lazarus Walks,” episode 9, originally broadcast October 1, 1943.

After Roger Holcombe survives a period of clinical death during surgery, he seems to possess an unsettling new relationship with truth and lies. Orson Welles stars as psychiatrist Dr. Graham, with Hans Conried as Holcombe, in this early supernatural-tinged psychological mystery adapted for radio by Robert L. Richards from a story by J. Marion Speed.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction

Suspense presents “Life Ends at Midnight,” listed as episode 7, originally broadcast February 1, 1944.

When Mrs. Bates’s troubled son Walter arrives needing $1,500 before midnight, a discovery involving her elderly lodger’s insurance policy turns an already strained household into a pressure-cooker of desperation and danger. The drama features Fay Bainter, Dane Clark, and Ralph Morgan, and was written by Robert Tallman.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:49 Original Broadcast
30...

Suspense presents “Portrait Without a Face,” originally broadcast March 2, 1944. This local archival recording is identified as episode 2. The CBS drama was written by Corporal Louis Pelletier and sponsored by Roma Wines.

In wartime France, refugee Colette is drawn to an art gallery and a troubling canvas whose blank face seems connected to her past. As she encounters painter Paul Degel and the suspicious Charles Gavenaud, old loyalties and dangerous questions gather around the portrait. Michèle Morgan stars as Colette, with Philip Dorn and George Coulouris.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual intro...

Suspense presents “The Man Who Thought He Was Edward G. Robinson,” listed in the supplied episode metadata as originally broadcast September 3, 1948. Episode number: 0.

Edward G. Robinson stars as meek, put-upon Homer J. Hubbard, a man so captivated by Robinson’s hard-boiled screen persona in Little Caesar that he begins trying to live like a movie gangster. Written by Lesley Raddatz, this darkly comic, self-referential drama finds Robinson playing both Homer and himself.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listen...

Suspense presents “Beware the Quiet Man,” originally broadcast August 12, 1948, as episode 302. Some archival listings identify this recording as episode 2 with an August 1, 1948 date.

In a neighborhood bar, Margie awaits her date when private detective Lem Clewson shares details of a disturbing case involving a quiet bank teller. As the conversation grows more personal, an ordinary evening becomes a tense web of suspicion and fear. Ann Sothern stars as Margie, with William Conrad as Clewson; the drama was written by Toby Hall and directed by Anton M. Leader.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced cont...

Suspense presents “Deadline at Dawn,” episode 5, originally broadcast May 1, 1948.

Over one tense night in New York City, taxi dancer Bricky Coleman and troubled hometown acquaintance Quinn Williams find themselves drawn into a dangerous race against time before dawn. Helen Walker and John Beal star in this adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s novel, written under the name William Irish.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:45 Original Broadcast
01:00:25 Closing
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Suspense presents “The Moonstone—Part One,” cataloged in this archive as episode 6 with an original date of November 1, 1953. Established episode logs identify the CBS broadcast as November 16, 1953, episode 526.

In this first half of Wilkie Collins’s Victorian mystery, Franklin Blake brings a remarkable yellow diamond to Rachel Verinder’s Yorkshire home for her birthday—only to find the jewel’s unsettling history and unfamiliar visitors casting a shadow over the celebration. Peter Lawford stars as Franklin Blake in Richard Chandlee’s adaptation, produced and directed by Elliott Lewis.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced context...

Suspense presents “A Vision of Death,” originally broadcast March 8, 1951. This archival presentation is identified as episode 8. Ronald Colman stars with Cathy Lewis in a CBS Radio thriller written by Walter Brown Newman from a story by Jerry Hausner.

Judd and Aurora are a married nightclub mind-reading team whose apparent telepathy relies on a precise system of signals. When Aurora begins giving answers before Judd can cue her—and seems to anticipate events beyond their rehearsed act—their polished illusion becomes increasingly unsettling.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announce...

Suspense presents “Song of the Heart,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 26, 1948, as episode 304. This Autolite-sponsored original drama was written by Elliott Lewis and stars Van Heflin, with Lurene Tuttle and Betty Lou Gerson.

At a company picnic, a man living under the shadow of his overbearing aunt encounters the possibility of a new romantic connection. The meeting brings long-contained pressures and resentments to the surface in a compact, character-driven tale of psychological tension.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a mo...

Suspense presents “Formula for Death,” originally broadcast on CBS on June 10, 1962, as episode 929. The local archival recording is labeled episode 0 with a June 1, 1962 date.

A crucial defense project rests on the work of the brilliant, reclusive Dr. Hoffman, whose complex optical formula must be delivered under tight security. As Colonel Humboldt and Dr. Fernald try to safeguard the handoff, Hoffman's fears of espionage—and his beliefs about psychic phenomena—heighten the tension. Written by Jack Johnstone, the episode stars Luis Van Rooten, Walter Greaza, and Ivor Francis.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextu...

Suspense presents “Death of an Old Flame,” episode 9, originally broadcast October 2, 1961.

Cocktail-lounge pianist Ronnie Warren is pulled back toward Anna, the wife who left him years ago, when a lucrative fur robbery offers money—and a dangerous chance to revive the past. Larry Haines stars as Ronnie, with Teri Keane as Anna, in a script by George Bamber.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:55 Original Broadcast
24:59 Closing
<...

Suspense presents “Three Times Murder,” originally broadcast October 3, 1946. This archival recording is identified as episode 3.

Rita Hayworth stars as Laura Williams, a woman who has rebuilt her life under a new name after being acquitted in the death of her first husband. Her security is shaken when her new family connection brings her face-to-face with Elmer Garner, the prosecutor who once tried to convict her. Hans Conried co-stars in this CBS drama, written by John DeWitt and Robert L. Richards and directed by William Spier.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a sh...

Suspense presents “The Moonstone - Part Two,” episode 3, originally broadcast November 2, 1953.

In the conclusion of this adaptation of Wilkie Collins’s classic detective novel, Franklin Blake and Sergeant Cuff continue their investigation into the disappearance of the fabled yellow diamond known as the Moonstone. As suspicion falls across the Verinder household, loyalties and secrets complicate the search. Peter Lawford stars as Franklin Blake.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
0...

Suspense presents “Will You Make a Bet with Death,” identified in the supplied archival source as episode 0, originally broadcast November 1, 1942.

At Coney Island’s Haunted Mill, Betty Andrews encounters Bob Penderel, a terrified young man racing to survive a deadly wager with his uncle. Written by John Dickson Carr and directed by Marx B. Loeb, this tense thriller features Michael Fitzmaurice, Lesley Woods, and Nicholas Joy.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor...

Suspense presents “The Death Parade,” episode 5, originally broadcast February 1, 1951.

Amid the noise and crowds of a downtown parade, Ellen Johnson finds an alarming letter warning that a woman she has never met may be in danger. With only a name and a cryptic reference to “Jack,” she races to find help before time runs out. Agnes Moorehead stars in this tense urban mystery.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00...

Suspense presents “Dead of Night,” episode 9, originally broadcast on June 1, 1947. This archival edition is drawn from a local surviving recording of the classic radio suspense series.

The supplied archival listing does not include a plot synopsis or verified production credits, leaving the story’s setup to unfold in the original broadcast. Suspense presents the program with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:23 Original Broadcast
30:09 Closing

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Suspense presents “Death on My Hands,” an archival episode listed with an original broadcast date of May 1, 1951, and episode number 0. Phil Harris and Alice Faye, better known for comedy, take on dramatic roles in this tense small-town story.

Touring dance-band leader Dixie arrives for a one-night high-school engagement and reunites with Julia, his former singer and fiancée. When a tragic accident stirs suspicion and anger in the mill town, Dixie finds himself facing a community determined to deliver its own justice. Written by John Michael Hayes and E. Jack Neuman, and produced and directed by Elliott Lewis.
...

Suspense presents “Dead of the Night,” documented as episode 118, originally broadcast on November 16, 1944. Local archival metadata lists the recording as episode 6, dated November 1, 1944.

In this tense crime thriller by Mel Dinelli, Jimmy Barton returns to Los Angeles to find his sister Helen terrified of her violent husband. As fear, family loyalty, and police scrutiny mount, the siblings are drawn into a desperate night of uncertainty. Robert Cummings and Lurene Tuttle star.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening expe...

Suspense presents “The Story of Markham’s Death,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 2, 1947. This local archival recording is identified as episode 2. Kirk Douglas stars in a drama written by Robert Platt and directed by producer William Spier.

Mystery novelist Phil Markham, trapped in writer’s block, travels to postwar London in search of inspiration. Amid the city’s bomb-damaged streets, he finds a cache of papers linked to Edgar Allan Poe—an discovery that draws him into a tense story of ambition, secrecy, and literary temptation.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual i...

Suspense presents “Dead Ernest,” originally broadcast May 8, 1947. This local archival recording is identified as episode 8. Written by Seeleg Lester and Merwin Gerard, the CBS thriller features Wally Maher as Lieutenant Steve Healey, with Junius Matthews as Ernest Bowers.

After a street accident, a man prone to cataleptic attacks is mistaken for dead when the safeguards identifying his condition are separated from him. As police and medical officials follow routine procedures, Lieutenant Healey races to piece together the clues in this darkly comic, time-sensitive suspense story.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a sh...

Suspense presents “Report on the Jolly Death Riders,” identified in this archival source as episode 7, with an original broadcast date of August 2, 1951. Other episode listings date the broadcast to August 27, 1951 and catalog it as Suspense #436.

In this fact-based traffic-safety drama, a San Francisco police lieutenant investigates a hit-and-run connected to reckless hot-rod driving around the Oakland Bay Bridge. William Holden stars, with Jack Kruschen and Cathy Lewis among the supporting cast, in a CBS presentation sponsored by Auto-Lite.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mast...

Suspense presents “The Strange Death of Gordon Fitzroy,” originally broadcast November 2, 1946, as episode 8.

Chester Morris stars as Johnny Malone, a recently released prisoner determined to confront the former partner he blames for a disastrous safe robbery. On a cold city night, old associates and painful memories draw him toward a reckoning. The radio adaptation is by Robert L. Richards, from an original story by Bruce Cassiday.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:

Suspense presents “The Dead Sleep Lightly,” identified in this archival recording as episode 0, originally broadcast March 3, 1943.

In John Dickson Carr’s supernatural-tinged thriller, a wealthy elderly man fears that his long-dead wife has returned to haunt him after an impossible telephone call to her grave. Susan Hayward, Walter Hampden, and Lee Bowman star in this compact tale of cemetery shadows and mounting dread.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
0...

Suspense presents “Death Went Along for the Ride,” listed in this archival collection as episode 7, with an original broadcast date of April 2, 1944.

On a cross-country drive from California to New York, a motorist picks up a young hitchhiker and finds their journey through lonely highways shadowed by a growing sense of danger. Gene Kelly stars in this compact road thriller, written by Henry Denker and Ralph Berkey.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chap...

Suspense presents “The Doctor Prescribed Death,” an archival episode originally broadcast on February 2, 1943. This local recording is identified as episode 2; established episode logs also list the broadcast as episode 27. Bela Lugosi stars as psychologist Dr. Antonio Bacile, with Geraldine Fitzgerald and Lurene Tuttle.

Ridiculed for his unsettling theory about the boundary between self-destruction and violence, Dr. Bacile sets out to prove it—drawing his wife, a distressed woman, and a police lieutenant into a mounting psychological thriller. Written by J. Donald Wilson and directed by Ted Bliss, this CBS sustaining broadcast is introduced by Joseph Kearns as the Man in...

Suspense presents “Death Flies Blind,” originally broadcast May 4, 1943. This archival presentation is episode 4 of the series. Written by John Dickson Carr, the CBS wartime thriller stars Richard Dix and Gale Page.

A U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and his fiancée board a commercial flight from New York, joining a handful of uneasy passengers—including a prominent industrialist. As the aircraft’s course and a passenger’s valuable cargo become matters of growing concern, the confined cabin becomes a setting for suspicion and international intrigue.

Suspense presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short clo...