One of the things I love about Old Time Radio is its wealth of fun Holiday inspired episodes and to celebrate the coming Easter Holiday here is a couple of fun Easter Themed episodes of The Great Glidersleeve from April 25th 1943 and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from April 17th 1954...Enjoy and Happy Easter!
The most famous Suspense episode of all-time may be the most famous single radio show of the entire golden age of radio, Sorry, Wrong Number! Written by author Lucille Fletcher and starring Agnes Moorehead (who was a member of Orson Welles famous acting troupe Mercury Theatre players and would go on to play Samantha's mother, Andora on TV's Bewitched). First broadcast on May 25 1943 it would be re-created 7 more times because it overwhelming popularity among radio fans. All 7 times Moorehead played the lead role and rumor has it that she used the same script for all 7 shows for luck. The show's theme of a woman dialing a wrong number and overhearing the plot to murder someone became a pain in side for phone companies which got complaints about their operators service. I've heard it a hundred times and it always entertains....from Feb. 24th 1944 here is a repeat performance...
Billed as "Radio's outstanding theater of thrills," Suspense entertained folks from the summer of 1940 until the very end of the golden era in Sept 30, 1962. Featuring thriller-type scripts that ran from bizarre crimes to all-out science fiction, Suspense used the medium of radio to its utmost and featured radios best writers, directors and producers as well as Hollywood's top actors. Stars like Cary Grant, Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich all appeared with some of radio's best stars too like Jim and Marian Jordan (Fibber McGee and Molly) and Jack Benny.
Hosted by a character "The Man in Black" played by Joseph Kearns or Ted Osborne who did little more then introduce the show (Unlike the The Whistler who made a running commentary of the action of the show) while it was sponsored by Roma Wines and then eventually Harlow Wilcox took over when Autolite Spark Plugs took over sponsorship. The show boasted a dozen or more of the very best shows of the golden age Sorry Wrong Number, The Lodger, Back Seat Driver, Donovan's Brain are just a few, but my personal all-time favorite was an episode starring Lucille Ball called "Dime a Dance". A long-time before her I Love Lucy days, Lucille Ball was a "B-Movie" star doing dramas as well as comedy roles. She was by no means the legend she would later become on television but she did do many radio guest spots and would star successfully on her own comedy radio show on CBS My Favorite Husband. In this episode she plays a red-headed dance hall girl who is the target of a serial killer...I've always loved this episode give it a try see what you think!!! From November 13, 1944... "Three Skelton Key" is one of the most popular single episodes of the golden age of radio. Adapted from a short story by French author George G. Toudouze it revolves around 3 men working on Island lighthouse and a mysterious ship...I can't tell much more without reveling to much, but what happens is both shocking and suspenseful! 5 version were done 3 on the action/adventure show Escape and twice on the popular Suspense. The most famous versions starred actor Vincent Price which he preformed 3 times; first on Escape in March 1950 and twice more in November 1956 and October 1958 for Suspense. Listen to this version from March 17, 1950.... |