Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Some of radio's funniest performers trade skits for Suspense in radio thrillers starring the cast of The Jack Benny Program. This collection of regular players and recurring guest stars kept audiences in stitches on Sunday nights but had listeners on the edge of their seats when "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" came on the air.  We'll hear Joseph Kearns in "Short Order" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1945); Ronald Colman in "A Vision of Death" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1951); Phil Harris with Alice Faye in "Death on My Hands" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1951); Jack Benny in "A Good and Faithful Servant" (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1952); and Dennis Day in "Like, Man, Somebody Dig Me" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1959.) Plus Jack Benny and his gang present their own version of Suspense (originally aired on CBS on January 6, 1952).

We're going back to school with the stars of the classic radio sitcom Our Miss Brooks starring in Suspense thrillers. First, Eve Arden - the titular English teacher of Madison High - stars in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1951). Then, Jeff Chandler - bashful biology teacher Mr. Boynton - stars in "The Steel River Prison Break" (originally aired on CBS on September 3, 1951). Finally, Richard Crenna - squeaky-voiced teen Walter Denton - stars in "Night on Red Mountain" (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1959). Plus, we'll hear the cast in an episode of Our Miss Brooks (originally aired on CBS on May 28, 1950).

We wrap up this month of my favorite movies with Seven Days in May - John Frankenheimer's tense Cold War drama about a planned coup d'etat in the United States. With a script from Rod Serling and an amazing cast, it's a thriller that holds up over sixty years later. We'll hear three of its stars: Kirk Douglas, who plays the Army officer who discovers the plot; Edmond O'Brien as the rascally senator enlisted to help save the day; and Fredric March as the president facing removal - a man committed to doing the right thing even if it's unpopular. Douglas stars in "The Story of Markham's Death" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947); O'Brien stars in "Muddy Track" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1948); and March stars in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on May 26. 1949). Plus - a bonus Suspense story of Cold War espionage: "The Case for Dr. Singer" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1951).

My month of personal favorites continues with two for the price of one - my favorite Suspense episodes adapted from the stories of Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite writers. He's best known for his science fiction stories, but the tales here are (mostly) down to earth tales of thrills and chills. Dana Andrews is a cop hunting a killer in "The Crowd" (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950); a children's game may hide a sinister secret in "Zero Hour" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955); Jeanette Nolan takes the long way home in "The Whole Town's Sleeping" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1955); and a crew of astronauts makes their final voyage in "Kaleidoscope" (originally aired on CBS on July 12, 1955).

This week, I'm sharing another of my favorite movies - Carol Reed's classic noir drama set on the streets of postwar Vienna The Third Man. Orson Welles makes one of his most memorable screen appearances as the charming rogue Harry Lime, and Joseph Cotten is Holly Martins, Lime's friend who struggles to face the truth about his pal's criminal nature. We'll hear the two stars in Suspense shows - Welles in "The Dark Tower" (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1944) and Cotten in "Fly By Night" (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1950). Then, Cotten recreates his film role in a Lux Radio Theatre presentation (originally aired on CBS on April 9, 1951), and finally Welles stars again as Lime in an episode of the radio series The Lives of Harry Lime - "Clay Pigeon."