Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

In honor of the spooky season, we're kicking off a series of films about things that go bump in the night. First up is the frightfully fun adaptation of The Canterville Ghost with Charles Laughton as a cowardly specter and Margaret O'Brien and Robert Young as the pair who try to help him break his curse with an act of courage. We'll hear the three stars in Suspense stories: Mr. Laughton in "The Fountain Plays" (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1944); Mr. Young in "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946); and Ms. O'Brien in "The Screaming Woman" (originally aired on CBS on November 25, 1948). Then, Mr. Laughton and Ms. O'Brien recreate their screen roles on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on June 18, 1945).

Take to the seas with Gregory Peck as C.S. Forester's British naval hero in Captain Horatio Hornblower. Peck starred as Hornblower in Raoul Walsh's 1951 swashbuckling adventure, and we'll hear Peck recreate his role on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1952). But first we'll hear him on a different type of dangerous trip in "Hitchhike Poker" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Finally, we'll hear a spoof of the film from The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1951).

Let's win one for the Gipper with Pat O'Brien and future president Ronald Reagan in Knute Rockne, All American. The biopic starred O'Brien as the legendary Notre Dame football coach and Reagan as the player whose struggles off the field inspire his teammates. We'll hear them recreate their roles in a Lux Radio Theatre production (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1940), as well as episodes of Suspense: Ronald Reagan in "One and One's a Lonesome" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1950) and Pat O'Brien in "True Report" (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1950).

Comedy legends Bob Hope and Lucille Ball head west in the romantic comedy Fancy Pants. Hope is an actor posing as an English butler, and Ball is the rough riding lady he's tasked with teaching the ways of refinement. We'll hear them in Suspense shows - "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948) and "Death Has a Shadow" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949) before they reprise their film roles on The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 10, 1951).

We wrap up our Hitchcock series with a bonus episode featuring stories from Suspense that were later adapted as episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on television. Charles Laughton is a patriarch with a problem in "Wet Saturday" (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943), and Charles Ruggles' indigestion may have a sinister origin in "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944). A talented cast of radio players brings Ray Bradbury's chilling tale "Riabouchinska" to radio life (originally aired on CBS on November 13, 1947). Claude Rains and Vincent Price hunt for a murderer stalking the streets in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948), and Herbert Marshall takes a cross-country trip in "The Long Shot" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1958). Finally, Stan Freberg finds that committing murder is easy, but covering it up is hard in "Alibi Me" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1958).