Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

We close out this Halloween season of bonus spooky shows with an encore production of "The Hitchhiker" - Lucille Fletcher's harrowing account of horror on the highway that was later adapted for television by Rod Serling as an episode of The Twilight Zone. We've heard Orson Welles in the 1942 Suspense production of the story; today, we'll hear Welles return to the role of cross-country driver Ronald Adams - the man who encounters the sinister stranger thumbing a ride on the side of the road - in this episode of The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1946).

Note: No intro - 'tis the season for colds, congestion, and froggy voices. The name Edgar Allan Poe is synonymous with suspense and horror, and his tales of terror continue to give readers thrills and chills today. We'll hear a pair of Poe's stories adapted for "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Henry Hull stars in the Inquisition-era tale of torture "The Pit and the Pendlum" (originally aired on CBS on January 12, 1943). Then, Poe's brilliant detective C. Auguste Dupin (played by Jackson Beck) solves "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1960). Finally, we'll close with a trilogy of Poe stories presented on The NBC University Theatre - "Nose-ology," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (originally aired on NBC on March 6, 1949).

H.P. Lovecraft's classic chiller comes to life on radio in this week's bonus scary story. Ronald Colman stars in the Suspense adaptation of "The Dunwich Horror" (Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast from November 1, 1945).

On radio, Stacy Harris chased crooks as a G-man, menaced Jack Webb on Dragnet, and lent his voice to Batman. Harris was a great actor who could be heard all over the dial and - later - seen on the big and small screens. We'll hear him in three old time radio thrillers, beginning with a terrific radio adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1955). Then, he stars in a what-if drama about the first atomic submarine in "Report on the X-915" (originally aired on CBS on November 8, 1955). Finally, Harris is a jewel thief whose trouble really begins when he tries to dispose of the merchandise in "The End of the String" (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1951).

In this week's bonus scary story, we catch a ride with The Mysterious Traveler as the sinister storyteller relates the tale of an archeological expedition gone horribly wrong. It's "Behind the Locked Door" (originally aired on Mutual on November 6, 1951).

The son of radio actor Frank Readick, Robert Readick made his first radio appearances when he was a child, and he'd racked up nearly 7,000 broadcasts by his early 20s. He starred in shows like 21st Precinct, The Cavalcade of America, and as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. We'll hear Readick in four old time radio thrillers from the sixties Suspense era: "Two Came Back" (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1960); "Bon Voyage" (originally aired on CBS on July 3, 1960); "The Green Lorelei" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1960); and "The Black Door" (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1961).

Our annual countdown to Halloween begins with the great Peter Lorre as a man haunted by an unseen presence. Lorre stars in "The Horla," an adaptation of the short story by Guy de Maupassant from Mystery in the Air (originally aired on NBC on August 21, 1947).

We're digging into the classics with a two-part Suspense adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the novel left unfinished by Charles Dickens when he passed away in 1870. Herbert Marshall stars in this production (originally aired on CBS on January 5 and January 12, 1953) that presents a possible ending to Dickens' murder mystery. We'll also hear an adaptation of Dickens' eerie story "The Signal Man" presented on Lights Out (originally aired on NBC on August 24, 1946).

On September 30, 1962, Suspense aired its final episode and the golden age of radio drama came to an end. In honor of the 60th anniversary of that last broadcast, we'll hear four of the final episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - "Run Faster" (originally aired on CBS on August 5, 1962); "The Lost Ship" (originally aired on CBS on August 26, 1952), "The Death of Alexander Jordan" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1962); and "A Strange Day in May" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1962). Click here to listen to Episode 100 - Beginnings and Endings, featuring "Devilstone," the final episode of Suspense.

A frequent collaborator of Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier appeared with the Mercury Theatre onstage and on radio and he played Banquo in Welles' film version of Macbeth. Elsewhere, Barrier hunted the Phantom of the Opera on the big screen and voiced Simon Templar on radio. We'll hear him as a scientist trying to prevent an outbreak of plague in "Black Death" (originally aired on CBS on August 2, 1955) and as a man hunting for his ancestor's pirate booty in "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1956). We'll also hear Barrier in "The Projective Mr. Drogan" from Lights Out (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1943) and as Julius Caesar in "Twenty-Three Knives Against Caesar" from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1954).

Van Heflin bids goodbye to the podcast with his final three appearances on Suspense. First, he's a man who waits years to finish a duel in "The Shot" (AFRS rebroadcast from October 12, 1953). Then, Heflin plays the infamous Public Enemy #1 in "The Last Days of John Dillinger" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1954). Finally, he stars as a drifter who wanders into a town and a murder frame in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on April 12, 1959). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as Philip Marlowe in a radio adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "Red Wind" (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947).

Jack Benny sets down his violin and trades mirth for mystery in my three favorite Suspense episodes starring the legendary comedian. First, he finds a bag of money and a pile of trouble in "Murder in G-Flat" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951). Then, he's an embezzling retiree who adjusts his pension plan in "A Good and Faithful Servant" (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1952). Finally, we head to Mars where Benny's average Martian is recruited to welcome visitors from Earth in "Plan X" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953).

Geraldine Fitzgerald was an Oscar nominee and a rising star in Hollywood in the late 1930s, But battles with studio executives began to cost her roles and derailed her career just as it was taking off. She enjoyed a revival in the 1960s, and she continued to work on stage and screen in everything from Arthur to The Golden Girls. We'll hear her as a woman whose husband is obsessed with one of history's most infamous duels in "A Friend to Alexander" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1944). Then, she co-stars with Orson Welles in Agatha Christie's "Philomel Cottage" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943). Finally, we'll hear Geraldine Fitzgerald in "Artist to the Wounded," a wartime romantic drama from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on May 7, 1945).

Many's the time John Dehner was gunned down in a classic TV western. With his deep, smooth voice, he was a natural to play heavies on screen but on radio, the versatile Dehner could play almost anybody - from Scotland Yard inspectors to murderers, from refined reporters to gunslingers. We'll hear the radio legend and character actor in "The Man with the Steel Teeth" - a story he wrote (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1955). Then he stars in a Suspense show pulled from the history books - "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1955). Finally, we'll hear Dehner as reporter J.B. Kendall - the Frontier Gentleman - in "The Powder River Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1958).

Whether she was in a supporting role opposite Cary Grant or Gregory Peck or in the lead, Cathy Lewis' performances on Suspense were always top notch. We'll hear her on a desperate mission to save a man's life in "Dead Ernest" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1946). Then she's trapped in a car teetering on the edge of a cliff in "The Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on August 17, 1958). And as a bonus, we'll hear her with Marie Wilson in a comedy episode of My Friend Irma (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1947).

One of the best heavies in Hollywood, Henry Daniell crossed swords with Errol Flynn and played Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. Appropriately, Daniell appeared as a pair of scoundrels when he visited the Suspense microphone. First, he's a professional blackmailer confronted by his victims in "The Dealings of Mr. Markham" (originally aired on CBS on June 28, 1945). Then, he's a scientist with some unusual theories about murder in "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on August 15, 1946).

We're saluting the master of big screen suspense for his birthday with one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films recreated for radio. It's his 1946 romantic spy thriller Notorious, where a beautiful young woman is recruited by the government to seduce and spy on a Nazi in hiding. Ingrid Bergman reprises her screen role, and she's joined by Joseph Cotten in this Lux Radio Theatre presentation (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1948).

It's the 300th episode of Stars on Suspense! To celebrate, I'm going back to the first year of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" to share six of my favorite shows from that initial year of Suspense. First, Orson Welles takes a cross-country road trip in "The Hitch-hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1943), followed by "The Kettler Method," a tale set in an insane asylum on a dark and stormy night (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1943). Then, Paul Stewart investigates a murder in Trinidad in "A Passage to Benares" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1942) and a young man tries to stay alive to win big money in "Will You Make a Bet with Death?" (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1942). Finally, Peter Lorre is a jealous husband with murder on his mind in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942) and Bela Lugosi is a scientist with a plan to create murderers in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943).

Our seventh season begins with Chester Morris, a star whose career spanned the silent and sound eras of Hollywood. But after a big run in the 20s and 30s (including an Oscar nomination), Morris found himself in B-movies by the 40s. His career got a shot in the arm when he was cast as reformed jewel thief turned detective Boston Blackie in a popular film series. Today, we'll hear him as a safecracker out for revenge on the partner who betrayed him in "The Strange Death of Gordon Fitzroy" (originally aired on CBS on November 28, 1946). Then, he reprises his signature role in the first episode of the Boston Blackie radio show (originally aired on NBC on June 23, 1944).

We say goodbye to Richard Widmark, as the star of Kiss of Death and Pickup on South Street stars in his final episodes of Suspense. First, he's a soldier on a secret mission to Cuba on the eve of the Spanish-American War in "A Message to Garcia" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1953). Then, Widmark plays a gambler who's about to lose it all at home but who can't help betting big on one last hand in "The Card Game" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1954). And as a bonus, we'll hear him as "The Man Who Couldn't Die" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (originally aired on CBS on February 12, 1946).

Best known to radio listeners as Peg Riley, long-suffering wife of Chester A. on The Life of Riley - and to traumatized movie fans as the voice of Bambi's mother - Paula Winslowe was one of radio's busiest and best actresses. We'll hear her as an amnesia victim who may also be a murderer in "Lost" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1954). Then, she co-stars with Virginia Gregg and Irene Tedrow in "Goodbye, Miss Lizzie Borden" (originally aired on CBS on October 4, 1955) - a story of what might have happened after the infamous forty whacks. Finally, we'll hear Paula Winslowe alongside William Bendix in The Life of Riley, where Riley and Peg are running against each other in a local election (originally aired on NBC on November 2, 1946).

To generations of classic movie fans, Richard Conte is instantly recognizable as Don Barzini, longtime rival of Don Corleone in The Godfather. But before that role Conte had spent years in war movies, noir dramas, and TV shows - co-starring with Jimmy Stewart, Victor Mature, and Frank Sinatra. We'll hear Conte as a boxer with Peter Lorre as his murderous manager in "Of Maestro and Man" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, Conte is a private eye hunting for the killer of a bookie in "Win, Place, and Murder" (originally aired on CBS on April 24, 1947). Finally, he plays Wyatt Earp in a western drama from the Hallmark Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1949).

In a king-sized crossover, Sam Spade hopped from his weekly detective series to headline an hour-long episode of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." William Spier produced and directed both shows, and when the time came to relaunch Suspense as an hour-long show, Spier enlisted Dashiell Hammett's gumshoe to make an appearance. Howard Duff and Lurene Tuttle reprised their roles of Sam and his loyal secretary Effie in "The Kandy Tooth," an original radio sequel to The Maltese Falcon that first aired as a two-parter on The Adventures of Sam Spade and was recreated for Suspense (originally aired on CBS on January 10, 1948). But first, we'll hear The Maltese Falcon recreated for the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943) featuring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.

Born into a family of performers, Joan Bennett enjoyed great success on stage and screen in her own right. She won acclaim from audiences and critics in everything from ingenue parts to roles as film noir temptresses and doting mothers. But her film career came to an abrupt end after her jealous husband attempted to murder a man he considered a romantic rival. We'll hear Joan Bennett as a woman falling for one of her husband's music students in "Overture in Two Keys" (originally aired on CBS on January 16, 1947). Then, she's accused of the murder of her boss's wife in "Statement of Mary Blake" (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1950). Finally, we'll hear Joan Bennett recreate one of her best screen roles as The Woman in the Window is recreated for Hollywood Star Time (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1946).

Leon Ames broke out with his portrayal of Judy Garland's dad in Meet Me in St. Louis, and he played several outwardly stuffy but inwardly sweet dads - and showed off a dry wit - in movies and TV shows through the 1980s. We'll hear him in his one and only visit to Suspense as a businessman who overhears a murder plot when he plays hooky from the office in "An Evening's Diversion" (originally aired on CBS on July 4, 1946). Then, Ames co-stars with Vanessa Brown in an adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel Main Street for The NBC University Theatre (originally aired on NBC on July 30, 1948).

The singing star of The Great Ziegfeld returns to the podcast as we listen to Virginia Bruce's final appearances on Suspense. First, she's afraid she's being stalked by a man who's supposedly still in prison in "The Night Man" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1946). Then, Ms. Bruce is a lonely housewife who falls for a handsome - and mysterious - new handyman in "Knight Comes Riding" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1947). Click here for two more of Virginia Bruce's Suspense shows. And click here to hear her opposite Robert Young in the Suspense drama "Celebration."

Nancy Coleman got her start in the casts of radio soap operas before she hit the Broadway stage and the big screen. We'll hear her as a young woman who may be losing her mind in "Fear Paints a Picture" (originally aired on CBS on April 13, 1943). Then, she co-stars with George Murphy in a tale of a couple who decide to kill to collect an early inheritance in "Too Little to Live On" (AFRS rebroadcast from February 7, 1946). Plus, Nancy Coleman stars in "The Second-Hand Pistol," a cautionary tale from the syndicated series Crime Does Not Pay.

George Coulouris arrived on the Broadway stage from London and soon struck up a friendship with a young Orson Welles. It led to a long professional relationship as Coulouris appeared in Welles' plays, his radio dramas, and his classic film Citizen Kane. Outside of his work with Welles, Coulouris found success on stage and both the big and small screens in the States and in England. We'll hear him as a professor caught in a murder plot in "The Last Detail" (originally aired on CBS on July 5, 1945). Then, he's a con man with his eye on an inheritance in "The Long Shot" (originally aired on CBS on January 31, 1946). We'll also hear him as debonair detective Bulldog Drummond in the 1941 audition recording that brought the character to radio.

In this bonus show, I'm sharing my four favorite episodes of Suspense starring the great Vincent Price. First, he co-stars with Ida Lupino in "Fugue in C Minor," a Victorian-era chiller from Lucille Fletcher (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944). Next, Price and Lloyd Nolan go on a "Hunting Trip," but only one man will come back alive (originally aired on CBS on September 12, 1946). Then, Claude Rains joins Vincent Price in the hunt for a serial strangler in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948). Finally, Price stars in one of the scariest old time radio shows of all time - "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

In her final appearances on Suspense, singer Margaret Whiting found herself menaced by a pair of deranged villains. First, in "Never Follow a Banjo Act," she's a cabaret singer on tour with a knife-loving psychopath (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1958). Then, as a carhop, she accepts a ride home from a dangerous stranger in "Drive-In" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1959).

Before he was one of seven castaways stranded on Gilligan's Island, Jim Backus showed off his dramatic chops in two episodes of Suspense. Backus leaves Mr. Magoo behind - first as a blind man marked for death by the mob in "See How He Runs" (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1959). Then - co-starring with his wife Henny - he plays a man plunging deeper into mental illness in "Pages from a Diary" (originally aired on CBS on August 19, 1962). We'll also hear him as Alan Young's haughty romantic rival in an episode of The Alan Young Show (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1947) and as a tailor with an unusual problem in Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on ABC on February 9, 1951).

Oscar-winner Paul Lukas takes his final bow on the podcast as a blind man who witnesses a murder in "A World of Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on January 20, 1944). Then, he recreates the performance that won him his Best Actor prize in "Watch on the Rhine" on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on August 7, 1946).

He made a name for himself in swashbuckling, sword and sandal movies, but Tyrone Power wanted to be more than a romantic hero. After his military service, he sought to leave the fencing of Zorro behind and embraced darker, more complex roles in movies like Nightmare Alley and Witness for the Prosecution. We'll hear him as a man accused of a murder he didn't commit in "The Guilty Always Run" (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1954). Then, he joins Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone for an evening at a Paris nightclub in The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on CBS on December 4, 1949).

Robert Ryan was a classic big screen heavy, a memorable menace in Crossfire, Bad Day at Black Rock, and more. He was a terrific tough guy, but offscreen, he was a pacifist who supported the civil rights movement and opposed McCarthyism. We'll hear him opposite Ruth Warrick in the sixty-minute Suspense drama "Beyond Reason" (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1948).

The worlds of Ray Bradbury jump from the page to the airwaves with four old time radio adaptations of his stories. First, a ventriloquist's dummy holds the key to a murder case in "Riabouchinska" (originally aired on CBS on November 13, 1947). Next, a little girl tries to save a woman in danger, but no one believes "The Screaming Woman" is real (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1955). Finally, we'll hear a pair of Bradbury's classic sci-fi tales adapted for the airwaves. First, his novel "The Martian Chronicles" is presented on Dimension X (originally aired on NBC on August 18, 1950). And a group of astronauts wonder if "Mars is Heaven" on X Minus One (originally aired on NBC on May 8, 1955).

Best known today as humanity's last hope in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Kevin McCarthy lent his voice to a pair of Suspense thrillers in the later years of the program. First, he plays a juror whose wife has been kidnapped to sway his vote in "After the Movies" (AFRS rebroadcast from September 6, 1959). Then, he fights for his life in a sinking ship in "Dead Man's Story" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 15, 1960). Finally, we'll hear him in the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a production of The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, part of the brief revival of network radio dramas (originally aired on CBS on June 18, 1974).

The wonderful character actor Everett Sloane steps back into the spotlight in three stories from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a highway patrol cop in a dangerous mountain chase in "Speed Trap" (AFRS rebroadcast from December 8, 1957). Then, Sloane is a scientist with doubts about working on a weapon of war in "The Voice of Company A" (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1958). Finally, he plots a murder at sea and plans to disguise it as a boating accident in "Blood is Thicker" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 5, 1959).

Paul Douglas came out of the world of announcing and sportscasting to a successful career on the stage and screen. He went from announcing a World Series to starring in movies like It Happens Every Spring and Angels in the Outfield before his untimely passing. We'll hear him as a postmaster hunting for a mail bomb in "Fragile - Contents Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1951). Then, he's a newspaper columnist caught up in the middle of a spy hunt in "Man Alive" (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1952).

The "first lady of Suspense" returns to the podcast! We'll hear Agnes Moorehead in another production of the series' most famous drama "Sorry, Wrong Number" (originally aired on CBS on September 6, 1945). Then, she stars in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' eerie story "The Signalman" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1953).

Before he sang his way through 1776 as Benjamin Franklin, Howard Da Silva was a busy screen and stage actor earning raves for his villainous turns on Broadway and on the big screen. We'll hear him as a cop on the trail of a cocky killer in "You Take Ballistics" (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947). Then, he recreates his screen role as a tyrannical ship's captain as the Lux Radio Theatre presents Two Years Before the Mast (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1947).

Whether she's making us laugh or keeping us in Suspense, we love Lucille Ball. In this spotlight episode, we'll hear my three favorites from her six visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, she's a dance hall girl trying to stay out of the clutches of a serial killer in "Dime a Dance" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944). Then, she's a hold-up artist who accidentally preys on a deadlier predator in "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948). Finally, she co-stars with her then-husband Desi Arnaz in "The Red-Headed Woman" (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949).

In his final appearances on Suspense, Victor Mature played an infamous Mexican outlaw and an undercover cop who falls for a gangster's girlfriend. We'll hear the star of My Darling Clementine and Kiss of Death in "The Love and Death of Joaquin Murrieta" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1953). Then, he gets too close to a beautiful - and dangerous - woman in "The Girl in Car Thirty-Two" (originally aired on CBS on March 15, 1954).

June Duprez broke out as a star in her native England in films like The Four Feathers and The Thief of Bagdad. Unfortunately, when she crossed the pond to Hollywood, mismanagement by a producer and her agent kept her from landing big roles. We'll hear her recreate one of her screen performances in "The Brighton Strangler" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1944). Then, she's a reclusive actress sharing her life story in "A Thing of Beauty" (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1944). Finally, she is a woman on a dangerous train trip with her unstable husband in "Your Devoted Wife" (originally aired on CBS on June 20, 1946).

Actor, Rat Packer, and one-time presidential brother-in-law Peter Lawford made his final visit to Suspense in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' "A Terribly Strange Bed" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1954) - the final episode of the show to be sponsored by Autolite. We'll also hear him co-star with Shirley Temple and Arthur Treacher in "First Love" from the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on May 14, 1945). Click here to read the original Collins short story.

Marsha Hunt began her career in Hollywood in the 1930s, but she was blacklisted after she took a stand against McCarthyism and the Communist witch hunt in Hollywood. Though she continued to act in films and television, she rededicated her life to philanthropy and activisim, and she's still with us today. We'll hear her as a long-suffering niece who sees an opportunity to get rid of an abusive (and wealthy) aunt in "Pink Camellias" (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1945). Then, she's a woman with no shortage of lovers, a husband she doesn't love, and a murder plan in "Self Defense" (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1947).

Charles Ruggles was best known to audiences for his comedic roles in Bringing Up Baby and It Happened on Fifth Avenue, but he was also the guest star on the very first episode of Suspense. We'll hear the star in "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1942), an adaptation of the mystery novel by John Dickson Carr. Then, he stars in Dorothy L. Sayers' "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1944).

In his final Suspense appearance, big screen baddie Dan Duryea plays a hold-up man turned murderer who has to dispose of a very inconvenient eyewitness in "Remember Me?" (originally aired on CBS on April 7, 1952). We'll hear him in that old time radio thriller, plus an episode of his radio police procedural The Man from Homicide. Duryea stars as Lt. Lou Dana in a radio mystery originally aired on ABC on July 16, 1951.

Stage and screen John Hodiak returns to the podcast in two more old time radio thrillers. First, he's a fast-talking hustler who joins a group of bank robbers in "The Big Heist" (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1952). Then, he's a deep sea diver on a treasure hunt for a lost Spanish galleon in "Gold of the Adomar" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1953).

In this bonus episode, we're celebrating the life and career of the late, great Betty White. The legendary Emmy-winning actress started her showbusiness career in radio, and we'll hear one of her on-air performances. She co-stars with Fibber McGee and Molly in "Advice to the Lovelorn," a romantic comedy from Family Theatre (originally aired on Mutual on October 30, 1947).

In his only appearance on Suspense, sharp-tongued satirist Henry Morgan showed off his dramatic chops. He plays a man who suspects a neighbor is a murderer in "Dream Song" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1947). Then we'll hear his trademark comedy in The Henry Morgan Show (originally aired on ABC on February 19, 1947).