Thursday, July 20, 2006

SUSPENSE - The Good, The Bad & The Crazy: Part 1!



As the longest running thriller anthology in the history of radio, Suspense was bound to have some degree of inconsistency of content. Stands to reason, right?
So then, some of these are really good, some are kind of bad, and some, like "The Green Lorelei" for example, are just whack-o.
One of the great joys for me, as an old movie buff, is the great number of Hollywood stars who took their turn at the microphone for Suspense, such as "House On Cypress Canyon" with Robert Taylor (script for this one online here) or "On A Country Road" with Cary Grant.
SF, Horror, Mysteries & Thrillers - Suspense did 'em all. Some of these later episodes from the early 60's, the last gasp of the radio drama era, are pretty low-rent and off the wall to boot.
More of these soonest, including (and I-kid-you-not) "The Invisible Ape"!?!

SUSPENSE - "House On Cypress Canyon"
SUSPENSE - "On A Country Road"
SUSPENSE - "One Man Crimewave"
SUSPENSE - "Outer Limit"
SUSPENSE - "Terribly Strange Bed"
SUSPENSE - "Earth is made of Glass"
SUSPENSE - "Mrs Russell"
SUSPENSE - "The Man Who Went Back To Save Lincoln"
SUSPENSE - "The Green Lorelei"
SUSPENSE - "Misfire"
SUSPENSE - "Dagger Of The Mind"

In other news, mystery writer Ed Gorman recently made an on-the-money assessment of the ol' datajunkie M.O. on the highly recommended "Mystery File" site -
"I’m not even sure that the editor knows what he’s going to post the next day. Comics, old radio shows you can tune into free, science fiction, mystery, horror, erotica – beautiful things, ugly things but always (for people into free range nostalgia) this one is total fun."
Couldn't have said it better myself! "Free range nostalgia"???? Can I use that ?
As someone who has read more than a few of his books and enjoyed same, it's a pleasure to return the favor!

PS. I hate to ask, but can anyone out there name the series and title with an episode that features a love triangle, a robot called "Junior" and a gangster called Duke? I know i've heard it (and probably have it somewhere), but I just discovered it's an adaption of an early Robert Bloch story ("Almost Human" written under his Tarelton Fisk pseudonym).
Any ideas?

PPS. We're trying out some new file hosting options again - so feedback is always welcome. Also, please remember that while I may not respond to each comment, as they are now moderated, I read them all with great interest. Oh, before I forget, my pick as to the recommended viewer for the pdf's provided on this site is Acrobat 5.0 or higher....OK?
web statistics
Since August 2005 - Free Site Counter