Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Too Hot to Live

Originally Aired: October 26, 1950
Suspense #400, "Too Hot to Live,"
Jefferson Casey, an ex-Air Corps captain still wearing his old uniform, jumps off a freight train near Marcus Junction with nowhere to go and nothing to lose. When his worn boot starts falling apart on the hot tar road, he encounters Benjamin Maxwell, the local sheriff, who proves surprisingly friendly and helps him find a shoe repair shop. While waiting for his shoes to be fixed, Jefferson meets Rachel, a provocative blonde waitress who works at the restaurant next door. Despite the jealous protests of Kenny, the pop-eyed grill man who's clearly infatuated with her, Rachel invites the barefoot stranger up to her apartment above the diner.
As Jefferson follows Rachel upstairs to her small apartment, the tension builds in this hot Saturday morning encounter. The drifter with a death wish, the worldly waitress hungry for new faces, and the possessive short-order cook form a dangerous triangle in this small town where Benjamin Maxwell keeps the peace. What begins as a casual meeting over coffee quickly escalates into something far more dangerous in the sweltering heat of Marcus Junction.

The Wages of Sin

Originally Aired: October 19, 1950
Suspense #399, "The Wages of Sin," stars Barbara Stanwyck as Ruby Miller, a woman with a questionable past who returns to her apartment to find a murdered man bleeding on her rug. The victim is David Madlock, a man Ruby claims she's never met, yet he was shot to death in her living room and had a key to her apartment on his body. Captain Salvador doesn't believe her story, especially when he discovers that Ruby recently came into a large sum of money, enough to pay for an expensive apartment, new clothes, and a substantial bank deposit. Despite having an airtight alibi for the time of the murder, Ruby becomes the center of a media firestorm while Salvador's investigation suggests she was paid to play a role in something much larger and more dangerous.
As the heat intensifies, Ruby faces pressure from all sides. Salvador warns her that whoever hired her for this setup won't hesitate to eliminate her when she's no longer useful, but Ruby maintains her tough exterior and refuses to cooperate. When threatening phone calls begin and mysterious men in overcoats appear outside her apartment, Ruby must decide whether her silence is worth the wages she's been paid.

Rave Notice

Originally Aired: October 12, 1950
Suspense #398, "Rave Notice," presents Milton Berle as Sam, a passionate actor whose world crumbles when director Norman replaces him in the role of the bell ringer during rehearsals. After five days of work, Norman coldly dismisses Sam from the part that he believes carries the entire production, citing only that Sam isn't right for it and brutally telling him he's no actor. The humiliation and rage drive Sam to methodically purchase a shotgun, carefully selecting the weapon that will deliver his revenge. He stakes out the theater district, waiting invisible in the crowd until Norman emerges, then shoots him in the belly on 45th Street.
Now sitting in a cell, Sam learns that Norman still clings to life in the hospital. His lawyer arrives to discuss their options, explaining that Sam's deliberate planning—the threats before witnesses, the careful gun purchase, the premeditated ambush—makes a temporary insanity defense impossible. The only remaining strategy would be proving Sam was insane all along, a suggestion that sparks Sam's interest as he contemplates his fate and waits to learn whether he'll become a murderer or something else entirely.

The Rose Garden

Originally Aired: October 5, 1950
Suspense #397, "The Rose Garden," stars Miriam Hopkins as Mrs. Trimble, a recently widowed woman who arrives at her cousin Amy Hansen's home seeking refuge and a new start. With no family or friends left after her husband George's death, Effie hopes to find comfort in the quiet household. However, her arrival is met with immediate hostility from Amy's other lodger, the severe and eccentric Miss Bone, who lived in China for years and keeps an intimidating cat named Chang. Miss Bone makes her resentment clear, claiming Effie has taken her chair and warning that her cat doesn't like strangers. The tension escalates when Miss Bone reveals she possesses a bottle of deadly Chinese poison called key lai.
When the episode opens, a young woman has died in the house, Amy has called the police screaming murder, and Miss Bone is hysterical. Sheriff Richards and Doctor Kramer discover a diary that Effie left behind, suggesting she knew something terrible was about to happen. As they begin questioning the surviving women, the peaceful rose garden setting gives way to dark suspicions about what transpired in this seemingly quiet home.

Fly by Night

Originally Aired: September 28, 1950
Suspense #396, "Fly by Night," stars Joseph Cotten as Mickey Manning, a desperate man trapped in a nightmare of his own making. After being held without sleep for 72 brutal hours by Lieutenant Driscoll and Sergeant Cogan, Manning signs a confession to the murder of Leo Garvin just to be allowed to rest. But Manning didn't kill anyone. When he wakes, he realizes the horror of what he's done and makes a daring escape, using shaving soap to blind his guard. Now a fugitive on the streets with no coat in October weather, Manning must prove his innocence before the police hunt him down.
The key to clearing his name lies with a witness named Venuti, who claims he saw Manning leaving Garvin's apartment at 11:30, right after the shooting. But Manning knows he left at 10 o'clock, well before the murder occurred. With his own wife Mary refusing to help him and only his lawyer cousin Charlie Borden willing to listen, Manning takes matters into his own hands. He heads to Venuti's office, determined to beat the truth out of the lying witness and discover who's behind the frame-up, even as every cop in the city searches for him.

The Crowd

Originally Aired: September 21, 1950
Suspense #395, "The Crowd," Lieutenant Johnny Stilano investigates the murder of Edgar Dale, an ordinary man found stabbed to death on a New York City street in broad daylight. Within minutes of the killing, a mysterious crowd has gathered around the body, their faces pressed in to witness death. As Stilano begins his investigation, speaking with Dale's landlady and employer Elliot Becker at the Becker Sign Painting Company, he discovers the victim was a solitary man who kept to himself, worked quietly, and left little impression on those around him.
The case takes a chilling turn when Stilano receives a special delivery envelope containing a newspaper clipping of the crime scene, with a disturbing message scrawled beneath it: "I did well, didn't I, police? Next time it will be even better." The killer himself calls Stilano directly, boasting about the murder and promising an even more spectacular killing to come. The murderer seems obsessed with crowds and creating public spectacles of death. Stilano races to trace the call to Gilbert's Shoe Repair shop, but arrives moments too late as the killer vanishes back into the anonymous masses of the city.

Over the Bounding Main

Originally Aired: September 14, 1950
Suspense #394, "Over the Bounding Main," stars Dan Daly as Martin Evans, a down-on-his-luck husband whose strained marriage to his wife Claire reaches a breaking point. Claire constantly reminds Marty of his joblessness and compares their shabby life to the prosperity of their wealthy friends, the Warrens. She even throws barbs about her ex-husband Lou Barris, suggesting she made a mistake divorcing him for Marty. Desperate for peace, the couple accepts an invitation to join the Warrens on a fishing trip to Catalina Island aboard a boat called the Pelican.
Once aboard, tensions continue to simmer as Claire retreats below deck while Marty tries to enjoy the ocean air. The crew consists of young deckhand Ignacio and the mysterious Captain Murray. When Marty hooks a big fish, a terrifying accident occurs—the stern rail suddenly breaks, nearly sending him overboard. Only Ignacio's quick action saves him from plunging into the sea. The captain's strange behavior during the incident raises alarming questions, and Marty begins to wonder if what happened was truly an accident or something far more sinister.

True Report

Originally Aired: August 31, 1950
Suspense #392, "True Report," Lieutenant Ben Kennedy receives what seems like a routine assignment from Captain Zoste: investigate a fatal hit-and-run accident that occurred at 3:30 in the morning on Center Street. A victim lies dead, struck by a dark-colored sedan that never stopped. Kennedy begins his investigation with the only witness, Jenny Thurston, a neighborhood woman who claims she saw the accident from her window while drinking tea. Her story keeps changing—first she didn't see the driver, then she remembers it was a young, heavily made-up woman. As Kennedy works the case, conducting interviews and following standard procedure, something begins to go terribly wrong.
The episode unfolds as Kennedy's official report to his captain, detailing every step of his investigation. But the opening scene reveals an ominous conclusion: Kennedy sitting across from Captain Zoste, apologizing that things had to turn out this way, handing over what he calls his "true report." What starts as routine police work spirals into something far more troubling, leading Kennedy to a discovery that will force him to confront an uncomfortable truth about the case and possibly himself.

Love, Honor, or Murder

Originally Aired: June 29, 1950
Suspense #391, "Love, Honor, or Murder,"
Helen and Harry Lewis face a life-changing decision when Harry, a struggling cab driver, discovers $12,000 in cash left behind by one of his regular passengers, Sidney Walker, a prominent news commentator. After seven years of disappointing marriage and financial hardship, Helen sees this as their chance to escape their miserable existence. While Harry knows he should return the wallet to his company before Walker reports it missing, Helen desperately tries to convince him to keep the money, even threatening to leave him if he doesn't.
As the clock ticks, Helen takes matters into her own hands, calling both Harry's cab company and Walker's home to determine whether the loss has been reported. She discovers that Walker follows a rigid schedule and will be at the radio station at five minutes to ten for his nightly broadcast. With this information, Helen begins to formulate a plan that goes far beyond simply keeping the money, pushing the couple toward a dangerous point of no return where love, honor, and potentially murder collide.

The One Millionth Joe

Originally Aired: June 22, 1950
Suspense #390, "The One Millionth Joe," features Jack Carson as Al Gerzant, a public relations man who orchestrates a Fourth of July promotional stunt for the Bureau of Better Business Promotion. At the airport, Gerzant and his team wait to surprise the one millionth passenger through the gates with a lavish prize package including hotel accommodations, tickets, gifts, and a free airplane pass to anywhere in the world. When mild-mannered A. D. Thompson from Missouri emerges as the lucky winner, he seems oddly reluctant to accept his prizes, particularly interested only in the airline ticket to places south of the border. Complications arise when attractive blonde singer Vera Valerie insists that Thompson shoved her aside, making her the rightful winner, and threatens to sue unless she receives duplicate prizes.
What begins as a routine publicity stunt quickly takes a sinister turn when Gerzant finds himself with a gun jammed in his back. As the story unfolds, the seemingly simple promotional event becomes entangled in something far more dangerous, and Gerzant realizes he hadn't counted on the explosive fireworks his innocent contest would trigger.