Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

The Case of Henri Vibard

Originally Aired: June 8, 1950
Suspense #388, "The Case of Henri Vibard," finds Henri Vibard living comfortably at Gladstone Memorial Rest Home under the assumed name Leclerc, claiming amnesia after arriving three years earlier with two hundred thousand dollars in American currency. When Sergeant Jack Freeman of the London Bureau of Missing Persons brings a woman named Mary to the rest home, Henri recognizes her immediately as his wife—a woman convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Yet Henri remains confident and amused, knowing that Mary was blamed for crimes he himself orchestrated, including the death of her father, Captain Willard, whose "suicide" Henri carefully arranged with an overdose of heart medication.
As Freeman presses Henri with questions about his identity and past, the tension builds. Henri smugly believes he holds all the cards, trusting in his ability to manipulate the situation as he has done before. But Freeman methodically lays out the evidence of Henri's crimes, and the confrontation becomes a battle of wits between a calculating killer and a determined detective, with Mary's unexpected freedom raising dangerous questions about what really happened and who will ultimately be caught in the trap.

A Case of Nerves

Originally Aired: June 1, 1950
Suspense #387, "A Case of Nerves," stars Edward G. Robinson as Albert Baker, a man driven to murder by years of watching his wife Louise suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, a painful nerve condition. After observing Louise's debilitating symptoms for four long years, Albert devises a chilling plan. He travels to Toledo, where he deceives a young doctor named Dr. Martin into prescribing morphine tablets by faking his wife's very condition. The unsuspecting physician, convinced by Albert's convincing performance of the symptoms, provides the prescription that Albert intends to use as poison.
Returning to Cleveland with the deadly tablets concealed in his pocket, Albert prepares to slip them into Louise's warm milk, a nightly ritual. As he moves through the hospital where Louise is confined, he encounters the staff who have come to know him as a devoted, suffering husband, including the sympathetic cook Nelly and the attractive Nurse White. The tension mounts as Albert finds the perfect moment to execute his plan, but unexpected interruptions and the routine of hospital life threaten to expose or delay his murderous intentions.

Very Much Like a Nightmare

Originally Aired: May 25, 1950
Suspense #386, "Very Much Like a Nightmare," follows Bryce McClane, an office worker returning to his job at the Nugent building after recovering from the flu. Still exhausted from working all night on an assignment, McClane relies on pills from his pharmacist Hermie to stay awake through the long day, despite warnings from his girlfriend Catherine Warren about the dangers of taking such medication. He also carries sleeping pills to counteract any side effects. As McClane navigates his foggy, sleep-deprived day, he notices something odd: elevator operator Eddie mentions picking up a sandwich for Mr. Ferris from Circussian Brothers Importers, but when McClane asks Ferris about it, both Ferris and the glamorous Miss Dupree deny the conversation ever happened, leaving Eddie visibly upset.
When McClane nearly falls asleep during an important conference with his boss Gilman and client Mr. Fisher, he realizes he needs another dose of his stay-awake pills to finish one last urgent assignment. As exhaustion clouds his judgment and strange inconsistencies pile up around him, McClane's routine day begins transforming into something far more sinister—something very much like a nightmare.

Angel Face

Originally Aired: May 18, 1950
Suspense #385, "Angel Face," Cherry Wheeler faces every sister's nightmare when her younger brother Chick falls under the spell of Ruby Rose Redding, a notorious burlesque queen with dangerous connections. Despite Cherry's desperate attempts to intervene, including a confrontation with Ruby herself, Chick remains infatuated and plans to run away to Chicago with the dancer. The situation turns deadly when Ruby Rose is found strangled in her apartment, and Chick is discovered crouched over her body with damning evidence all around him.
Lieutenant Nick Burns arrives at Cherry's door with devastating news and an airtight case against her brother. The thumbprints on Ruby's throat, the mysterious signet ring, and Chick's presence at the scene all point to murder. But Cherry refuses to accept her brother's guilt and begins to question the evidence. As she frantically reconstructs the evening's events, she realizes there may be more to this case than the police suspect, and makes a shocking confession that changes everything.

The Man in the Room

Originally Aired: May 11, 1950
Suspense #384, "The Man in the Room," stars John Lund as a freelance writer who hires Miss Markham, a typist working in a shabby office building, to handle his manuscripts. From the beginning, something seems off about the building's peculiar elevator operator, a dwarf-like old man with rounded shoulders who listens at doors and intercepts the writer's visits. When the elevator man begins taking the manuscripts himself and preventing any contact with Miss Markham, offering excuses about why she cannot be disturbed, the writer's suspicions grow. The old man even completes the typing work himself, claiming to help Miss Markham when she's ill.
Unable to concentrate on his current story, the writer becomes obsessed with creating a mystery plot based on his real situation. He imagines the elevator man, whom he names Graklin, has murdered Miss Markham and hidden her body. But when he calls her office number to check on her, Miss Markham answers, seemingly alive and well. The writer must now confront whether his imagination has run wild or if something sinister is truly unfolding in that strange building.

Statement of Mary Blake

Originally Aired: May 4, 1950
Suspense #383, "Statement of Mary Blake," stars Joan Bennett as Mary Blake, a young assistant who accepts a position working for the brilliant and charming Dr. Gregory Martin. Initially dazzled by the luxurious surroundings and the opportunity to work with such a renowned scientist, Mary soon notices troubling undercurrents in the household. Dr. Martin's beautiful wife Lorna appears frightened and insecure despite her husband's public displays of affection, and Mary overhears what sounds like violence late one night. In the laboratory, Dr. Martin becomes strangely fixated on a vial of amber liquid that he claims is the fastest-acting poison in existence, ominously telling Mary he wouldn't attempt his most exciting experiment without her assistance.
As Mary works alongside both Dr. Martin and his wife, the atmosphere grows increasingly sinister. The episode opens with Mary trapped in a dark corridor, watching a blind man approach with a tapping cane, his face bearing marks of pain and evil. The question looms: what happened during those long days in the laboratory, and how did this promising opportunity turn into a nightmare of suspense and danger?

The Chain

Originally Aired: April 27, 1950
Suspense #382, "The Chain," stars Agnes Moorhead as Leonora Cofferner, a bitter housewife who receives an ominous chain letter warning that whoever breaks the chain will meet with evil. Consumed by jealousy over her husband George's relationship with his secretary, Betty Holden, and resentful of her social rival Abby Reynolds, Leonora sees the superstitious letter as an opportunity for petty revenge. She dutifully sends copies to both women, then watches as her already crumbling marriage deteriorates further.
When George confronts her about sending the foolish letter to Miss Holden, their argument escalates into a devastating confrontation about trust, respect, and the state of their marriage. George moves out to the guest room over the garage, leaving Leonora alone with her resentment and the growing realization that her actions may have consequences. As the townspeople begin to whisper and Leonora tries to justify her behavior, she insists she merely followed the letter's instructions out of fear—but the question remains whether the evil that follows will come from supernatural forces or from the poison of her own making.

Pearls Are a Nuisance

Originally Aired: April 20, 1950
Suspense #381, "Pearls Are a Nuisance," Walter Gage is enjoying a leisurely morning of doing nothing when his fiancée Ellen McIntosh calls with an urgent request. Mrs. Penruddock's pearl necklace has been stolen, and Ellen insists Walter must recover it. The twist? The pearls are fake. Mrs. Penruddock secretly sold the real pearls her husband gave her for their golden wedding anniversary and replaced them with imitations. Now she fears the thief will discover the deception and blackmail her, exposing her secret to Mr. Penruddock. Ellen is certain the culprit is their former chauffeur, Henry Eichelberger, a massive brute of a man who tried to kiss her before leaving suddenly two days earlier.
Armed with righteous indignation over the attempted kiss, Walter tracks Eichelberger to a seedy hotel above a Chinese laundry. After bribing the manager and searching the room unsuccessfully, Walter confronts the six-foot-three chauffeur and attempts to defend Ellen's honor with his fists. The encounter doesn't go quite as planned, and Walter finds himself on the floor wondering how he'll recover the stolen pearls and his dignity.

Six Feet Under

Originally Aired: April 13, 1950
Suspense #380, "Six Feet Under," finds carnival performer Jack Daly trapped in more ways than one. Ten hours a day, he lies buried alive in a coffin while paying customers stare down at him through a glass window, his survival dependent on an air pump that seems to beat in rhythm with his heart. Above ground, Jack drowns his misery in whiskey, haunted by the knowledge that he abandoned his dreams of a successful juggling act for this morbid spectacle. His beautiful wife Miriam seems increasingly distant, and Jack's suspicions grow darker when Cliff, a former accountant who inexplicably joined the carnival, admits he's dying and would do anything to make Miriam happy, even kill Jack.
As tensions escalate, Jack finds himself caught in a deadly triangle. Cliff buries him each day and digs him up each night, holding Jack's life literally in his hands. When Jack overhears a conversation between Miriam and Cliff about making things different after tomorrow night, his worst fears seem confirmed. Trapped six feet under with only his paranoid thoughts for company, Jack must wonder whether the air pump will keep running or if this performance will be his last.

Salvage

Originally Aired: April 6, 1950
Suspense #379, "Salvage," stars Van Johnson as Danny Connor, a down-on-his-luck pilot who gets an unexpected visit from his ex-flame, Gloria Davis. She offers him a lucrative flying job working for her husband, Wendell H. Davis, and his newly formed Intercontinent Salvage Corporation. The company claims to be in the business of recovering Spanish gold from sunken galleons in the Caribbean, and Davis needs Connor to scout ahead of their salvage vessel by air. The job pays ten thousand dollars, but Connor must follow orders, keep quiet, and ask no questions.
Despite the generous pay, Connor grows increasingly uneasy about the operation. The salvage ship is a decrepit old tub that barely looks seaworthy, and Davis's vague answers and insistence on secrecy raise red flags. When Connor learns they'll be flying across the Gulf of Mexico in a cheap war surplus plane, his suspicions deepen. As the ship prepares to sail, Connor confronts Gloria in the darkness, admitting he's considering backing out of the dubious venture before it's too late.