Suspense Television

The Third One

"The Third One" features Martin Balsam in a story about a little girl named Jane, who doesn't want to admit to her parents that she was bitten by a rabid dog.

We can't really blame Jane because her parents seem to have problems of their own, particularly her mother. Grace is a woman whose moods swing back and forth...like a swing. She seems to be very annoyed, with her husband, her daughter, her job, etc. Why? Well, it has something to do with being an overwhelmed working mother, but we are never sure. Her husband, Robert, thinks that a nice family vacation will fix everything. Grace tells him several times, "that this won't do any good." Nevertheless, Robert, convinces her with his cheerfulness that everything is going to be great! Grace goes outside to look for Jane so that they can leave on their trip.

We find Jane playing hopscotch with some other neighborhood kids. Suddenly, the kids find something new to play with. It is a funny-looking, growling dog coming towards them. "Here boy! Here boy!" The little girl on the left is smarter than the two stupid boys on the right. She goes over to tell a policeman about the strange dog, but it is already too late. AAaaaaaaahh! Mad dog! Mad dog!

The dog attacks Jane and the two little boys. The policeman, played by Martin Balsam, shoots the animal down in the street. In the post-dog attack pandemonium, Jane is confused. She is hurt and scared, but when she realizes that the policeman will have to inform her parents, she slips away from the crowd. After dealing with the annoying mother of one of the little boys, and then talking to the other little boy, the policeman realizes that the little girl has disappeared! Do they know who she was? No. Do they know where to find her? No.

Jane returns home, but no one is there. She puts a band-aid on her wound, and pretends nothing is wrong when her mother comes in.

Grace asks Jane where she was. Was she playing with the neighbor's dog? Jane tells her mother "No," which is true. Jane wasn't playing with the neighbor's dog, she was attacked by a vicious rabid dog. She just chooses not to mention it because she is afraid her parents will scold her. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from her mother's office. Then, Robert comes in and gives Grace another pep talk about how this vacation is going to be fantastic! Grace then notices the band-aid on Jane's arm, but Jane tells her it is just a scratch. Her mom looks at it and doesn't recognize it as anything serious. So, they all go on vacation.

Meanwhile the ambulance picks up the two little boys and the paramedic warns the policeman that he must find that little girl immediately.  She needs to be treated for rabies within the next 24 hours. If not, her chances for survival are slim. The police put the story out to media to try and find her.

When Jane and her parents reach their vacation destination, they seem more or less as tense and unhappy as they were back in the city. Grace picks up the newspaper and reads the article about the missing girl who was bitten by a mad dog. She reads aloud the description of what happens to rabies victims and shudders. Robert mentions that kids are "always getting into some kind of trouble."

The next day, Grace is back on her emotional see-saw. It is too bad that they brought her on this vacation; she sure knows how to throw a wet blanket around. Robert surprises Jane with a radio to replace the one she broke the day before. So now they have a radio, and they can hear the news reports about the little girl the police are trying to find...

"The Third One" aired on November 22, 1949. Margaret Phillips played Grace, Theodore Newton played Robert, and Iris Mann played Jane. This episode is available on Suspense: The Lost Episodes, Collection 2, Disc 1.

The Far-Off House

"The Far-Off House" is the story of a woman who returns home after a trip to find that someone has been living in her house.

It is a dark and stormy night at the train station in Waverly. Mr. Richards, the stationmaster, tells his two employees, Archie and Charlie, to go home. Charlie, the newstand attendant, reminds him that he has to wait for his mother. She is across the street at the movies because she is afraid to stay home alone at night. A recent unsolved murder has everyone in town unnerved. The two of them agree that it just isn't safe to stay in your own home.

Suddenly, Mrs. Collins taps on the window and asks for help with her luggage. She has just returned to Waverly from a three week visit with her mother. Charlie likes Mrs. Collins, but his attention makes her nervous.

The storm outside is howling, and Charlie thinks it would be safer for Mrs. Collins to stay at a hotel in town. He warns her numerous times that she should not to go back to her home.

Before she can decide, Archie brings in her luggage. When she offers him a tip, Archie pushes the money away. He snaps at her to never offer him a tip again. Mrs. Collins and Charlie are baffled, but Charlie explains by telling her that Archie is new at the station.

Charlie's mother then arrives and seems suprised to see Mrs. Collins back in town. Everyone assumed that she had left because there was something wrong with her marriage. For a while, they even thought that it might have been her husband who did it...

Mrs. Collins doesn't know what they are referring to. Charlie's mother explains that Mrs. Collin's gardner, Buddy Jackson, was murdered while she was away. Some people think that young, good-looking Buddy may have been killed by a jealous husband. Then, Charlie's mother reminds Mrs. Collins that her garden was the last one Buddy worked on before he was killed.

Mrs. Collins is now very upset. She wants to go home to her house on Indian Neck Road. Charlie tells her over and over again that it isn't safe. So of course, she goes home. On her way out the door, Charlie's mother asks Mrs. Collins if her son "seems better" to her. She says that she was told to put Charlie in a sanitarium, but she thinks that a job and a mother's love are all that he needs. Uh-oh!

After Archie delivers Mrs. Collins to her home, she offers him a tip, and he slaps her hand away again! Archie tells her that serving her has been a pleasure, and he leaves.

Mrs. Collins then walks through the dark and empty house towards the kitchen, turning on the lights as she goes. Suddenly, we are startled by the presence of a man in the room behind her!

Run Mrs. Collins!! Run!!...Oh wait... It is a studio technician. An arm comes and quickly yanks him out the picture. Yes, it was a mistake, but for a second or two it was scary!

Despite that goof, we are still focused on this story. In fact, despite a number of mistakes in this episode, the suspense is strong enough that the bloopers aren't too distracting.

As soon as Mrs. Collins enters her kitchen, she realizes that someone has been in her house. Who could it have been? She is troubled by this, and calls Charlie's mother for help. Charlie's mother thinks that Mrs. Collins should come back into town. It isn't safe for her to be home alone with the storm, the possible power outage, the recent robberies in the area, and the killer on the loose. Oh yeah, and the telephone service might go out, too. Just then, their telephone call is cut off. Later, the phone does work again, but only so her husband's secretary can tell Mrs. Collins that Mr. Collins won't make it home that night.

Now, Mrs. Collins is stuck. She can't get back to town, and soon she finds out that there is someone in the house with her. Is Mrs. Collins really as dumb as we think she is, or is she tougher than we know?

"The Far-Off House" (episode #125) was written by Victor Wolfson, and starred Judith Evelyn, Douglas Watson, and Henry Jones. This episode aired on December 4, 1951.

Man in the House

"Man in the House" was first presented on the radio show Suspense in 1945. When the story was brought to television four years later, its tone was changed from one of desperation to nervous suspense. The radio version delved into the unhappiness of a mother and daughter trapped by the unfortunate circumstances of their lives and by an intruder in their home. On television, the story was lightened up a little and, oddly, the intruder becomes the most sympathetic character. In the radio version, Emily is a spinster librarian who lives with her invalid mother, and Ted is the man she gave up. On television, they are a married couple separated by the Emily's duty to her mother.

"Man in the House" begins with Ted and Emily, looking forlorn and standing in front of paper background painted to look like an orchard. They are upset. Emily must leave Ted and stay with her mother, who is a sick and unpleasant, old bitty. Her husband wants her to stay with him, but she can't. Emily must sacrifice herself for her mother. She tells Ted that he could come and stay with them, but he points out that they tried that --and it didn't work. So, they part. Ted, a doctor, consoles himself with a cigarette.

Emily walks up to the front door and finds their dog -- dead on the doorstep. When she goes inside, she finds a madman who has tied up her mother! The intruder tells her to cooperate with him and he won't hurt anyone. He explains to Emily that he had to put a gag on her mother because she is obnoxious and complains constantly. As soon as Emily removes the gag, we realize that the intruder is right. This is where we first begin to sympathize with the intruder more than with his two hostages.

The intruder tells them that he has killed before, but that he has escaped from the mental hospital where he was confined. He claims that the things that were done to him there were worse than death or jail. Our sympathy for him increases again because it does sound bad. The intruder doesn't want anyone to find him because he does not want to return to the mental hospital. He has decided to stay with them until he can decide what to do.  The intruder is not worried about anyone unexpectedly dropping by because he knows that no one can stand the old woman.

Emily's mother isn't happy about any of this, so the intruder gives her sleeping pills to make her sleep. Then, he talks to Emily about how they are going to handle the situation. He tells Emily that she must to go to work to avoid suspicion. If she tells anyone about him, he will hurt her mother.

After a very long pause for an Auto-lite commercial, part two opens in the library where Emily works. There are a few teenagers draped over a library table trying to study, and Emily is in the background looking nervous and shelving books. When the teenagers get too rowdy, Emily disciplines them for talking in the library. (Uh-oh Emily, you spoke too soon.) Here comes your husband to have a loud talk with you about how your mother should be put in a home. The teenagers in the library are spellbound by the drama, but Emily soon chases them out. She tells not to come back until they have learned how to behave in a library. That seems a wee bit hypocritical coming from Emily.

Ted tries to talk to her, but Emily has shut down. She can't tell anyone what is going back at the house. Emily has to keep it all inside. Ted says that he can't take the situation anymore. He tells Emily that he wrote her a letter last night, that he now regrets, but that she should be receiving it today. Ted tells her to call him after she reads the letter.

Next we see that the letter has arrived at her house, the madman is reading it to Emily's mother. In it, Ted calls her mother "acid" and a few other unpleasant names. The intruder agrees with Ted. The mother doesn't.

The next day Emily finally goes to her husband's office and tells him what has happened. He grabs a gun from his desk and tells Emily that they are going over to rescue her mother.

"Man in the House" (episode #29) was written by Leslie Edgely and adapted for television by Joseph Liss. The Intruder was played by Alan Baxter. Emily was played by Kim Hunter. Mrs. Barrett was played by Ruth McDevitt. Ted was played by Boyd Crawford. This episode aired on November 29, 1949. It is available on disc one of Suspense: The Lost Episodes - Collection 1.

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For information about the radio version visit www.escape-suspense.com.

Vacancy for Death

"Vacancy for Death" stars Joan Blondell as a woman married to a bad man.

One of the first things that will come to your attention about "Vacancy for Death" is that it has a soundtrack instead of Suspense's usual blistering organ accompaniment. Since we aren't obligated to wince and cover our ears at the beginning of this episode, there is a smoother transition from the credits to the opening scenes.

As the episode opens, we pan across a group of trash cans outside a Los Angeles boarding house while "You Made Me Love You" plays in the background. One of the trash cans has a rag doll perched on its top. Right away, we ask ourselves: Does that mean something? 

After we see the panarama of the trash cans, we see Mrs. Clara Warren, (Blondell), pacing nervously in front of her cheap boarding house and its trash cans. It is a hot evening and she looks anxious. Pacing, looking anxious, and dabbing the sweat from her brow with a hanky is what she does the most of in this episode. So much so, that you may lose trust that this is all going somewhere, but don't worry, it is.

Clara is waiting for her husband, Sam, and his associate, JoJo, to come back from the airport. The three of them have a "business" where they arrange for accidents to happen to the occupants of Clara's boarding house. Sam and JoJo have gone there to pick up their next unsuspecting victim, Mr. Addams. Don't let their jaunty bow-ties fool you. These are bad men.

At the airport, where smoking is permitted just about everwhere, they grab Mr. Addams and knock him unconscious. They take him back to the boarding house, and put him in the room that they have prepared.

Clara doesn't show much interest in their victim. She is a lonely wife who wants her husband, but he doesn't want her. She throws herself at him a few times, but it doesn't do her much good. The only thing her husband cares about is the accident their victim is going to have with the gas cooker.

During the intermission, the usual Auto-lite cartoon story about spark plugs is replaced with an advertisement for one of the participants in the 1953 Easter Parade of Stars Auto Show. (For more information about the Parade of Stars Auto Show click here.) The car company featured on this episode was the Hudson Motorcar Company and the car being introduced to the television audience was the Hudson Jet.

When we return to "Vacancy for Death," we find Clara still pacing the floor in the early morning. She is supposed to wait up until 4:30 a.m. and then "smell gas" and call for help. While she is waiting, she drops in on her husband's room to try again. In this movie-like scene, she sees her husband for the person he really is.

In the end, Clara makes sure her husband knows how angry she is.

"Vacancy for Death" (episode #180) aired on January 20, 1953. Steven Elliott played Sam. Also appearing were Dorothy Hart, Oliver Thorndike, and Douglas Taylor.  This episode is available on disc 4 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection 1.

Telephone Call

"Telephone Call" is a near perfect episode of Suspense. Here the dangerous world of the Suspense radio show is captured in a television episode.

As the episode opens, we see a punch bowl, and that is always a good way to start. The punch is stirred while we watch the credits. Into this punch bowl is added gin, rum, and Old Colony. (You will see these prop bottles of alchohol in other episodes of Suspense, too. Especially that Old Colony bottle.)

The punch bowl belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Haskell, the hosts of a New Year's Eve party. They live in a New York apartment building, and they have invited some of their friends and neighbors have come to celebrate the new year with them. The Haskells know how to have a good time, and their guests can't wait to dive into the punch bowl.

Their neighbor next door, Myrtle Kelsey, isn't pleased about the ruckus going on at the Haskell's apartment. Myrtle is a helpless invalid, and the noise from the party upsets her. Everett Kelsey, her husband, waits on her hand and foot, but he refuses her request to tell the neighbors to be quiet. He tells her it is only once a year, and that the neighbors should be allowed to have their fun.

Myrtle isn't happy about that or anything else. She is a pathetic, angry woman who never does anything but complain, and her husband has had enough of her complaints. Everett has a little bottle of poison in his coat pocket, and he intends to poison her.

Everett's plan is interrupted when Mrs. Haskell comes over to invite him to their party. She feels sorry for him and in her tipsy condition, she lets Everett in on a secret. The Haskells know that his wife is not the helpless invalid she pretends to be. Myrtle gets out of bed all of the time when Everett isn't home, and she has candy and movie magazines delivered from the drug store.

Upon hearing this, Everett doesn't hold back from giving his wife a poisoned glass of warm milk. Myrtle is suspicious, and the two of them get into a fight. Myrtle goes into hysterics and Everett leaves the room. Then, he receives a telephone call. The voice on the other end of the line tells him that they saw what he did in the kitchen.

The Haskells again come over to convince Mr. Kelsey to come to their party. Everett is in a panic because of the phone call, but Myrtle is asleep now and so, he gives in to the request of the Haskells. He tells them he will be right over, but then, he receives another phone call. This time we hear the two female voices on the phone. They tell him that they saw what he did.

Meanwhile, we see who made the calls. The prank phone calls.

Everett gets his coat and tries to leave, but the party guests in the hall won't let him. The party guests are in their own drunken world, and Everett is caught.

This is when we are introduced to this special lady. She is an extra with no lines. Why doesn't she have lines? She doesn't need them. She communicates the drama through her expressions.

When Everett is finally dragged to the party, he comes face to face with the girls who called him. He doesn't believe them when they tell him they were just making prank calls. Everett wants them to tell him what they saw.

According to the credits, "Telephone Call" was written by Victor Wolfson and based on an idea by Thomas Phipps and James Lee. Russell Collins starred as Everett Kelsey, and Eileen Heckart played Mrs. Haskell. Also appearing were: Phyllis Povah, Robert Emhardt, Sydney Armus and Hollis Irving. This episode was #88 in the series and aired on March 20, 1951. It is available on Disc 2 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection 2.

The surreal moments are what distinguish this episode.

Woman in Love

"Woman in Love' was adapted from a story by the British mystery writer Geoffrey Household, but that isn't what makes this Suspense episode interesting. The real value of this episode lies in the casting. More specifically, the casting of Paul Newman in one of the minor roles.

This is a story about the oppressiveness of communism and of life behind the Iron Curtain. In it, we meet Alexia Constancia, a young Hungarian woman about to travel to Sweden to meet her fiance. She appears to be a good patriot, but her true allegiance is with the underground. The superintendent of the security police quizzes her, and she passes his test.

The resistance forces want to get Constancia out of Hungary so that she can deliver vital information to the United Nations.  Their concern, however, is that she is a woman in love, and as such, she is vulnerable and prone to doing foolish things. Even though she is told this -- it doesn't stop her from doing something foolish.  Something like... losing the piece of paper on which the vital information was written.

So, where does Paul Newman come into this? When she gets on the train for Sweden, we get our first glimpse of Paul.

He plays Captain Radetski of the security police. From this point on, the story is all about the missing piece of paper--and watching Paul Newman. The security police are suspicious of her, and most of the drama revolves around them coming close to finding the piece of paper. The superintendent of the security police, Fulco, doesn't believe Constancia is just an innocent woman in love, but he can't rattle her or find anything to implicate her involvement in the resistance.

When Alexia boards the train, the security police request to examine her luggage.They don't find the paper and she is allowed to continue her journey. The underground agent who helped her pass, isn't as lucky.

The superintendent then tells Captain Radetski to stay with the bride. So, Captain Radetski and his buddies go in to chat with Constancia. Captain Radetski is much too friendly, and Alexia isn't happy about that. She is annoyed, until he sends the other guards away and reveals that his true purpose is to help her.

In the end, with Captain Radetski's help, she safely crosses the border. Incredibly, she decides to continue on to Sweden despite the handsome resistance-fighter who saved her life.  

Does she have any doubts about that decision? Perhaps that is why she is in tears at the end, but we'll never really know.

"Woman in Love" (episode #160) was adapted for television by Victor Wolfson. Arnold Moss played Theotaki, Gaby Rogers played Constancia, and Fulco was played by Berry Kroeger. This episode aired on August 26, 1952.

The Parcel

The first collection of Suspense: The Lost Episodes contained several episodes starring actor/jazz trombone player Conrad Janis. Clearly, he was one of the hot-young-things of early 1950's television. For those of us who grew up in the 1970's, it was a surprise to find out that the actor who played Mindy's dad on Mork & Mindy was once...a hot-young-thing of early 1950's television. His resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio or, more currently, Zac Efron from High School Musical, is uncanny. It seems that when it comes to young heart-throbs, things haven't changed much over the years.

Conrad Janis made seven appearances as a hottie on Suspense, the first of which was an episode called, "The Parcel."  Set in New York City, the story opens at a hot dog stand. The lady behind the counter, Sally, serves hot dogs and pineapple juice. Most of the action in the episode centers around this hot dog stand, and the more you see it, the more you will crave a hot dog and pineapple juice.

The story begins when a messenger boy named Tommy, who has just returned from a dreary errand, stops at the hot dog stand. He tells Sally that if he could only put a little money away, he could start his own business.

Tommy leaves to go back to work and then Sally receives a phone call. We soon learn that she does more than just sling juice drinks and keep the hot dogs rolling. The phone call is from Mac, the boss, and he leaves instructions for two of his goons. (One of them is played by Lee Marvin.) She relates his message to them and they leave. The boss wants them to find the guy in room 403 of the Craven Hotel. Coincidentally, that is where Tommy was just sent to pick up a package!

The guy in room 403 is nervous. He gives Tommy the package and instructs him to deliver it at 5:00. Tommy doesn't understand why he has to hold onto the package all afternoon, but when the man gives him a ten buck tip, he agrees to make the delivery. Tommy takes the package and leaves. Shortly afterwards, the two goons show up and knife the man in room 403. We don't see this, we hear it in the background while one of the goons stands in front of the camera and smiles.

Back at the hot dog stand, there are two pick-pockets lamenting their slim pickings for the day. Tommy ends up back at the hot dog stand, too, because he has nothing to do until his 5:00 delivery. So, he eats more hot dogs. The two pickpockets ask Sally to go with them to a Dodgers game, but they end up taking Tommy instead. As soon as they leave, the two goons return to the hot dog stand and realize that Tommy is carrying the package they want. They tell Sally that soon those three guys are going to look like three of her jumbo frankfurters. The camera then pans to three shriveled frankfurters next to a jar of French's mustard.

At Ebbetts Field, the two pickpockets realize that there is something valuable inside of the package that Tommy is carrying. The rest of the story plays out at the game as everyone tries to get the package. The studio scenes are noticeably interspersed with film footage of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"The Parcel" (episode #44) was written by Alvin Sapinsley, based on an idea by Robert Stevens. Conrad Janis starred as Tommy, the messenger boy with a the fancy vocabulary, and Ann Thomas played Sally. Ray Walston was Herbie the Hook and Royal Dano played Marvin the Push. Lee Marvin played Barrow and Harold J. Stone played Eagle Moran. This episode was broadcast on March 14, 1950. It is available on Disc #2 of the first collection of Suspense: The Lost Episodes.

Dr. Violet

Neither Collection 1 or 2 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes includes episodes about ventriloquist's dummies or evil dolls, but it does include one about a wax museum.  Even better, it is about a seedy wax museum at an amusement park. It's called "Dr. Violet." Is it scary? Not in the least. Its value is in its weirdness.

The story revolves around the "only animated waxworks in the universe," which is located in an amusement park somewhere in Los Angeles. For seventy-five cents, Dr. Violet will give you a "personally conducted murder tour" of his wax chamber of horrors. His wife is the barker and ticket taker at the front entrance. The sound quality in the first few minutes of this episode isn't good so we only hear some of the gems of her sales pitch. According to her, Dr. Violet is the "foremost expert on criminal psychology in Southern California or anywhere else." Wow! Those are impressive credentials for a wax museum tour guide in an amusement park.

On this day, a nice young couple appears at her booth. They want to see Dr. Violet's museum, but the price is steep. The girl, Lois, is a college student taking a class in abnormal psychology. Mrs. Violet tells her that she can learn more about abnormal psychology from Dr. Violet than she can from college. As we will see, Mrs. Violet is right about that, but not in the way that Lois thinks. Nevertheless, Lois is convinced that his brilliant lecture will help her in school and insists on going in. Her fiance, Art, would rather eat clams and drink beer. They quarrel and she enters the museum of Dr. Violet alone.

Lois joins a tour group that is already in progress. Art then has a change of heart and joins her. Dr. Violet brings the tour to a close, but is then asked about the murderer Clarence Trevor. The exhibit profiling his crimes hasn't been discussed. Dr. Violet explains that Clarence Trevor is a sadomasochist, still at large, who preys on virgins who are just about to be married. He then gives Lois a long, creepy look. Dr. Violet tells the crowd that the criminal justice system is to blame for allowing so many evil deeds to go unpunished, and that society is to blame for that failure.

Earlier in the episode, we saw the police go into the museum but now we find out why. A young woman was murdered in the museum and her body was put into one of the displays. It was so realistic that no one noticed her for five days. The police now tell Dr. Violet that they have to close his museum down for a week.

Meanwhile, Lois and her fiance get into another quarrel. She wants to stay and see Dr. Violet's lecture from the beginning. He leaves and Dr. Violet appears. He begins his lecture, but Lois stops him because she isn't comfortable being the only person on the tour. Dr. Violet goes to the front to see if there are more patrons waiting for the tour. There aren't. The museum has been closed down and the police have padlocked the front entrance, with Lois still inside!

Mrs. Violet then talks Mr. Violet into taking a rest at a local hospital. They seem to be familiar with the staff at this local hospital, but not because Dr. Violet is really a doctor. Mrs. Violet leaves to have her hair done and that means Dr. Violet has some time to kill.

Now, Dr. Violet has young, tender Lois all to himself. He goes back into the museum to show her his favorite exhibit. From that point on, Lois learns a valuable lesson about abnormal psychology, but not the kind that you learn in school.

Dr. Violet, (episode #21) aired on October 4, 1949, and was written by Halsted Welles. His most recent work is the screenplay for the movie 3:10 to Yuma, which is currently in theaters.

Anne Francis, in her only appearance on Suspense, played Lois. You may recognize her from the famous Twilight Zone episode "The After-Hours" (1960), in which she plays a department store patron who runs into trouble with the store's mannequins.

Art was played by Frankie Thomas, Evelyn Varden played Mrs. Violet, and Hume Cronyn starred as Dr. Violet.

Summer Storm

Episodes taken from the Suspense radio show didn't always turn out well on television. There is at least one case however, where the episode was much improved.

"Summer Storm" was presented on the Suspense radio program on October 18, 1945, and despite the fact that it starred Henry Fonda, it was dreadful. For more information about the radio episode visit Escape and Suspense!

The television and radio episodes were both based on the same basic story of an accidental death in a boarding house. The radio version was tedious, but also a bit bizarre. The main problem was that the boarder, played by Henry Fonda, was a weirdo who constantly talked to himself. There was no reason to care about him. In the television version the boarders were a father and son. Here the story was an interesting father-son drama about fear. The teleplay for this episode was written by Marie Baumer from the story by Louise Este. 

"Summer Storm" opens with Eddie Hunt and his son Jimmy as they are about to leave their boarding house. They are excited to be moving on because the house is run by a couple of ill-tempered slobs. Jimmy is a little bit nervous about the storm outside, but his father assures him not to be scared of anything.

Mr. Waters, the landlord, hears them and comes out of the kitchen. He has just been enjoying some yummy pig's knuckles and now he is picking his teeth with flourish and zest. Eddie tells Mr. Waters that they are leaving, but Mr. Waters stops them at the door. He thinks that Eddie "forgot" to pay last week's rent and yanks their suitcase away from Jimmy. (This is the first of many times that little Jimmy gets pushed around in this episode.)

A scuffle ensues and Mr. Waters yells for help. There is a brief fight and Mr. Waters ends up on the floor. Eddie and Jimmy aren't sure what happened, but Eddie panics. When the neighbors start pounding at the door, Eddie and Jimmy go up into the attic to hide. The neighbors enter and find the lifeless body of Mr. Waters. The police are then called.

Eddie is terrified and determined not to let the police catch him. He admits to his son that he has a record for "beating up a guy." Eddie is convinced they will send him to jail for a second offense. He tries to get Jimmy out of the house through the attic window but Jimmy won't leave him. Meanwhile, the police are coming up the stairs to search the house. Eddie grabs a hammer and waits...

Part 1 ends there. Rex Marshall then gives us an Autolite cartoon story about Marvelous Merlin the Magician and his spark plug troubles.

When "Summer Storm" resumes, Mrs. Waters has returned to the house. The police can't get into the attic so they go back downstairs to question Mrs. Waters. She gnaws on a yummy pig's knuckle to help deal with her stress.

When she goes to bed, Eddie and Jimmy have their chance to escape. Jimmy finally agrees to sneak out through the attic window and wait at the local diner for his dad. Eddie thinks Jimmy is scared of him now that he knows the truth about his father's past. Nevertheless, he helps Jimmy escape through the window and into the storm.

By the end, both father and son have faced their fears and overcome them. They celebrate at the diner with a Coke.

"Summer Storm" aired on January 17, 1950. E.G. Marshall played Eddie Hunt and Jack Dimond played Jimmy. This episode is available on disc 3 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection 1, but it is incorrectly dated on the package as having aired on February 19, 1952.

On a Country Road

Suspense, the radio series, can be summed up in one episode, "On a Country Road." It was a mixture of urban legend and cautionary tale like no other.  This episode pulled the audience into a dangerous situation and then kept them trapped there, while the suspense mounted and the characters became increasingly hysterical. It was the kind of nightmare "that could happen to anyone."

Suspense presented "On a Country Road" on radio for the first time 57 years ago on November 16, 1950. Cary Grant, Cathy Lewis and Jeannette Nolan starred. For more information about the radio episode click here.

In 1951, this story made the transition to the Suspense television show with a few changes. So how did the television version turn out?  Not quite the same.  Without Mildred Natwick, this episode would have been a total disaster.

The show begins on a foggy highway in Maine. David and Dorothy, returning home from a picnic, are stuck in traffic. The fog is thick and the traffic is inching forward. They turnoff the highway to take a shortcut.

Soon they hear an announcement on the radio about a middle-aged madwoman named Nellie Geller who has just fled from the Restview Mental Hospital. She escaped by murdering her doctor and a ward attendant with a meat cleaver.

They aren't worried about Nellie because their immediate problem is their lack of gas. They stop at a gas station but it is closed. Soon, a state trooper and the sheriff arrive. The sheriff gives them instructions on how to get to the next gas station, and David and Dorothy leave. When the state trooper asks the wise old sheriff about the mad-woman, he responds with the ominous warning. "That's the thing about a woman. You never can tell."

Soon they hear another report about Nellie. She hitched a ride with an elderly couple and killed them with her meat cleaver. Now David and Dorothy realize that they didn't follow the sheriff's instructions correctly. Although David grew up this area, he finally admits that he is lost. Who wouldn't get lost in this bleak landscape? Although the story is set in Maine, the scenery looks more like Arizona. A miniature Arizona that goes around and around...

The continuing reports about Nellie Geller on the car radio are making Dorothy both hysterical and annoying.  Their problems aren't over yet though, soon a rainstorm breaks and their car runs out of gas. When they hear a dog barking in the distance, they assume there must be house nearby. They leave their car and head out into the woods.

As it turns out, they aren't alone. A woman on the road finds their car and follows them to a small cabin where David and Dorothy have found shelter.  They think she is Nellie Geller, but of course, let her in anyway. Then they all sit down on the floor for a nice chat. Soon, they learn that she is a crazy cat lady with 23 Abyssinians.

Up until this point, the episode is more or less the equivalent of the radio version. From here, however, the episode gets watered down for television. The fight scene between the couple and the crazy cat lady doesn't live up to standards set by the radio episode. In the end, David and Dorothy decide that they must do the right thing and admit they made a mistake. Fine. Do that. The ending of this episode lacks the bite of cruel fate and no one really gets hurt.

"On a Country Road" (episode #87) starred John Forsythe, Mary Sinclair, and Mildred Natwick as the crazy cat lady. This show aired on March 13, 1951. It is available on DVD in Collection 1 of Suspense: The Lost Episodes.

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To listen to the 1950 Suspense radio version with Cary Grant, Cathy Lewis and Jeanette Nolan click below:

Download susp.1950.11.16_On_a_Country_Road.mp3