Suspense – OTR Plot Summaries and Reviews

Suspense

1942-1962
Known Episodes: 945 (900+ Circulating)
 
Radio’s outstanding theater of thrills: stories well calculated to keep you in… Suspense!
 
This show’s high production values made it one of the most outstanding radio programs. It starred many leading film actors.

2462   C

A man named 108303715 comes to consciousness in a cell, arrested for writing poetry. He’s landed in a termination center as a non-productive time waster. He accepts his fate, so long as they give him a pen for his last twenty days. Luckily the warden has a soft spot for poetry. Will the warden follow through with his offer to break out the poet? An alarm sounds in the cell just as he is about to escape!

Goodbye, Miss Lizzie Borden   B

A nosy reporter comes sniffing around the Borden residence one year after the tragedy that Elizabeth was exonerated for. But the reporter uncovers more than she is expecting. The axe makes an appearance. Tense, with an ending that takes things in a new direction.

After Dinner Story, The   B

A wealthy man invites four strangers to dinner; all are people present when an elevator fell and his son died. He never believed the ruling of suicide, so he poisons his guests! He offers enough antidote for one, but to take it would be an admission of guilt! Who will use it? What was the motive for murder? [Adapted from Cornell Woolrich]

Always Room at The Top   B

(Anne Baxter) A headstrong fashion designer gets the position of Artistic Director at the Farrell Advertising Agency after the old director jumps off the building! Helen Brant is warned not to fall in love with the boss… but does. Did the jealous secretary push her predecessor Miss Thornton out the window? Is Helen next? The death scene is pretty intense. [Double Indemnity]

At The Point Of A Needle   B

A shrew pokes and prods her husband to rent her a cabin at the beach where she gets into a territorial dispute with a sunbathing couple. Eventually, her husband’s had enough and kills the young couple with a shotgun. In the end, we learn that people like her never change. Taming of the Shrew

August Heat   B

True to the classic short story where two men encounter eerily similar premonitions on a hot summer day. “A man’s not responsible for what he does in heat like this…” [Adapted from W.F. Harvey]

Back For Christmas (1943)   C

(Peter Lorre) Crime noir. A henpecked Herbert buries his wife in a “death garden” in his cellar. But she did all the planning for the family, so when Herbert runs off to New York with his new wife… there’s a surprise telegram waiting for him. He’d better get home soon!
[Adapted from John Collier. Also:Escape and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Similar to Mysterious Traveler: “Change of Address”]

Backseat Driver   C

(Fibber McGee & Molly) A couple are surprised by a mass-murderer in their back seat, who hold a gun on the wife and tells them to drive up the the hills. There is tension when time after time they are unable to get word to the folks they meet on the way, and horror when he tells them to drive back to their house and two children to avoid a brush fire! The ending is a trail of clues you might not expect.

Banquo’s Chair   C

A mock Sherlock Holmes tackles the one case that eluded him, a murderer with a perfect alibi: he was in jail. When the detective rents a room from the killer, they become uneasy friends until dinner on the anniversary of the death… when a ghost comes to visit! Am I Going Crazy? B
[Research from Escape & Suspense: “Adapted from (1930) by Rupert Croft-Cooke, who also wrote mystery novels under the pseudonym of Leo Bruce. It became the basis for the movie The Fatal Witness (1945) and an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959.”]

Beast Must Die, The   C

When his son is the victim of a hit and run, Felix secretly befriends the murderer. When the killer is poisoned, Felix’s diary is used as evidence… but who really killed the murdering beast?

Bells, The   C

A woman with psychic ability and her husband are led to a cheap rental. The phone rings… there’s nobody there! Why does a ghostly voice say “Get out!”

Beware The Quiet Man   C

Margie, who’s two-timing her husband, is convinced by a private detective that her husband is going to kill “his wife,” as soon as he receives the dick’s damning report… only he hasn’t got a decent picture of the guy’s wife yet. Then she discovers a gun in her husband Arthur’s drawer. It’s a cute episode, but the ending is a little far-fetched.

Black Shawl, The   B

A ladies’ companion discovers herself locked in with Mrs. Marsden’s mad son shut in a bedroom upstairs. She will not be allowed to quit, to leave, not on the anniversary of her son’s heartbreak and breakdown. She will be made to wear the black shawl!

Blackbeard’s Ace   B

On an isolated island retreat a woman with mental issues and her husband find an antique anchor and an old ivory planchette, then hear screams outside at night! Margot suspects that her husband is trying to drive her mad, but the planchette tells her… to kill!

Blind Date   B

(Charles Laughton) A stage dancer accepts a blind date, but when he shows up, he locks the dressing room door. Then he gets all creepy and asks for a kiss. In the end, someone dies as a large switchblade appears and things escalate during a coerced private dance.

Black Curtain, The   B

(Cary Grant) Crime noir. An amnesiac discovers he is wanted for murder. He must figure out who truly committed the crime before the police catch up to him. A mute old man has the answers– but will he have enough time to give them? Amazing how much can be packed into a half-hour show with a good writer behind it. [Adapted from Cornell Woolrich]

Black Door, The   B

A professor seeks out The lost Temple of the Fire Gods. The grandson of a native who found it guides him there for half the treasure. And there’s treasure, all right. Golden statues and jewels. They go through the black door behind a relief map… and find the dog-headed men from the far side of the moon! They use dynamite to blow the temple, caldera and all! Jewels of the Forbidden Temple

Black Path of Fear, The   B

(Brian Donlevy) Bill Scott brings Eve to Havana believing it to be safe from Eve’s ex-husband, a Florida gangster named Spinelli who threatened to kill her when she left him for another man. But it’s not safe. It’s death at Sloppy Joe’s restaurant… But there was a photographer who might have caught the person who stabbed her on film. If the cops give him a chance to find out. But Spinelli sets Scottie up by swapping his “see no evil” jade knife for the one that killed Eve, even bribing the Chinatown souvenir shop owner who sold it to the couple to lie to the police. Scottie runs, finding sanctuary with a woman called Medianoche, who has no love for cops and is willing to help a stranger who just lost his wife as “flowers on a grave” in memory of her lost husband. [written by Cornell Woolrich]

Blood is Thicker   C

In order to marry the wealthy Vanessa, Mike Farley pretends to be a jet setter and an experienced sailor. He doesn’t count on her protective young guardian being able to spot his fakery. When he contrives to send the perceived interloper overboard during the Trans-Pacific Yacht Race. He goes over instead… and gets eaten by a shark!

Blood Sacrifice   C

The actors talk so fast trying to cram so much into a half hour episode, I had to listen repeatedly. A playwright jealous of his lead actor’s success and poor editing of his play gets a chance at revenge when he and the actor are in a car accident, and he is the only available blood donor. Is he a viable donor, or did they mistake his blood type? Does he care? What an opportunity for revenge!

Blue Hour   B

(Claire Trevor, Hans Conried) Dancer Lois LaPaul is held captive by her boss, night club owner Anthony Macata. Her only hope of escape is a newspaper reporter who helps her figure out that the gift perfume bottle left to her by her newly deceased friend Jason White was a clue to where he had hidden the biggest diamond in the world, The Blue Hour. That’s what White’s ex-partner Macata named his night club. He thinks she’s got the ice. Can Lois and her reporter friend scheme their way out of trouble before she gets killed too? Will she fall in love with the dope in the end?

Bodysnatchers, The   B

Two men are almost caught procuring a body “resurrected” for a doctor. How do they fill the order now? Old Mother Slade has a serving girl, but she’s not dead. Yet.

Bullet, The   A

(Ida Lupino) I don’t know whether to give this an A or an F for being so cringey. It is the horrifying story of an intelligent and successful woman brought down by a psychologically abusive husband. Harry gets out of jail to discover she has made his business a success. His ego makes him threaten to shoot Ruth every night until she signs over her half of the business. (Then he’ll give her a divorce.) Lupino gives a near perfect performance that creeped me out for days.

“Someday I’m gonna kill you with this gun. Someday I’m going to say, ‘Ruthie, I’ll give you three seconds to sign this release. One, Two, Three.’” Click.

Cabin B13   B

A woman and her new husband board a ship and unpack in their cabin, but after going on deck to watch the Statue of Liberty, she returns alone to room B16 and discovers only her own things. Her husband has disappeared! What’s worse is that the ship’s crew swears she boarded alone! The narrative refers to the Paris Exposition urban legend. John Dixon Carr was subsequently given his own radio show titled Cabin B13. [Written by John Dixon Carr. See also: Escape – Vanishing Lady] Am I Crazy?

Carnival   A

The Robotic Man, devoid of all emotion, displays himself next to The Giant on the midway, under the hypnotic control of the carnival owner. Why? The owner knows his secret: He strangled a woman with her own hair! But he is a passionate man… he convinces his wife to kill the owner! A really creepy episode– find out what happens after his wife fails!

Case Study of A Murderer   C

(William Conrad, Jeanne Crain) Hank Lathrop starts obsessing over a local mother and child murder. The narrator, his wife, makes it sound like he has multiple personalities. Hank gets increasingly agitated until he falsely confesses to the police. Beth is too supportive, protects him from the therapy he needs until he becomes violent. The police psychologist says it’s only a matter of time before Hank really does kill. The ending is vague; in fact, the whole story is so invested in misleading us that it amounts to little more than a slice-of-life tragedy.

Cellar, The   B

A man fantasizes about “doing in” his battleaxe of a wife and burying her in the cellar. The local constable shows up with the mother-in-law while the other woman hides in the kitchen, but he gets away with it… All wishful thinking. But he is digging a six-foot hole in his basement. Hee hee! Taming of the Shrew

If you think you can make it up them stairs before I bash your head in, you’re very much mistaken.

Cellar Door, The   D

A two-year-old named Sandy is left alone with a full bathtub of water and a flame on the stove while his parents are trapped in the basement. Don’t worry, he’s fine.

Chain, The   B

(Agnes Moorhead) A jealous woman forwards a chain letter with malicious intent; first to gloating Abby, the wife of the man who got her husband’s promotion and then to George’s secretary, whom she thinks he is having “second breakfast” with. After sending the first letter care of the man who works for Abby Reynolds (fearing she would simply tear up a letter from Leonora,) the superstitious foreigner’s wife dies. He gets drunk, and a little crazy and stalks Leonora crying “Why did you do this to me?” Leonora has been so hysterically jealous and vindictive, her husband leaves her. Then, alone in the night, vengeful Mr. Kerchevski is back. Leonora has her husband’s service revolver. She shoots blindly at a shadow! (1950 and 1958 versions)

Circumstantial Terror   D

(Ronald Reagan) A guy who’s down on his luck gets into a confrontation with a liquor store owner. When he goes back to apologize, he witnesses the shopkeeper get shot, but is himself apprehended and charged with the murder. By unbelievable luck, the killer is on his jury! Frank jumps out the courtroom window then goes to the murderer’s house and tells him to confess or he’ll sock him in the chin. After a few punches from Reagan, he just gives up, knowing he’ll be hanged for murder, but the tough guy is in the right. Frank faces no charges for escaping custody.

Classified Secret   B

Julie Spaulding falls in with a guy who claims the two people behind them on the bus are spies. Charlie Rader says he works for the government and has absconded with the plans for a jet engine that’s “faster than anything they’ve got.” Rader had asked for 20 Grand, but the spies who wanted the plans showed up with only ten, so he walked. Now the folks on the bus think they can kill him and get the plans for free, but he’s already contacted the big guy out east. Julie watches as he shoots the happy, everyday couple down in cold blood, takes their ten Gs, and shoves their bodies off a cliff! Brutal.

Clock and the Rope, The   C

Crime noir. A man is convicted of murder when the only witness to his self-defense plea won’t come forward! Will he be granted a reprieve in time?

Community Property   C

George Mason is about to inherit a fortune from his rich uncle, and decides he needs to divorce his wife Lois so she doesn’t get half. Instead, he decides to kill her outright, setting her up to take an overdose of her sleeping pill prescription. Too bad he didn’t know the chemist had only been giving her a placebo.

Communter’s Ticket   C

(J. Carrol Naish) A guy is sick of his wife cheating, and he kills her while a train covers the sound of her screams. He has an escape plan: he slips the watchman at work a mickey and sneaks out to commit the crime. Since mindless commuters never remember a face, his alibi is that he’s been at work the whole time. Except circumstances keep making him a memorable figure all the way back!

Consequence B

(James Stewart) A doctor having an affair with his secretary receives his ultimatum… but he knows his wife would have him up before the Medical Board and his reputation would be destroyed. Then one night, Phil’s house burns down with his friend Ted inside! A perfect opportunity to fake his own death! He and his secretary run away and change their identities, but Gwen finds them and blackmails him to return. (This is where the motive breaks down, failing the story. Gwen has a life insurance policy coming, and didn’t like her husband, so why force him to come back?) Notwithstanding, he decides he has to fake another fire. But arson is dangerous, and you never know who will survive.

Copper Tea Strainer, The   B

(Raymond Burr & Betty Grable) A cop with a cold is questioning a nameless swimsuit model about her invalid mother. Her boyfriend Ted is a suspect. The detective pulls a tea strainer out of his pocket and the memories start flowing! Her toxic mother uses guilt to manipulate her, keeps her “chained down like a slave” and even tries to poison her boyfriend against her to keep the daughter to herself. Mom has to be very careful as the doctor prescribes her pills packed in strychnine. It would be easy to set up an overdose in her morning tea.

Curse of Kamoshek, The   C

A rich blow-hard threatens to cut off his nephew from his inheritance if he insists on wasting his life chasing after Egyptian antiquities. The nephew sends back the mummified arm of Kamoshek I, which bears a deadly curse, after going on an expedition anyway.

Customers Like Murder, The   C

Crime. A war-time thriller. A writer encounters mobsters who kidnap him and his assistant believing them to be a doctor and nurse. It’s well written enough to be a pilot for another show. The detective story writer notices benzine cleaner and talks the idiot thugs into covering their tracks by using it as an incendiary. Guess what happens when you breathe benzene!

Dark Journey   A

When Ann Brody is told by her lover, Clyde, that he is engaged to another woman, she blames his controlling mother. Ann makes a wish believing herself to have supernatural power… and Clyde’s mother dies! Listen close, the twist ending makes the story.

Dark Tower, The   B

(Orson Welles) A Svengali exerts control over a young actress, while a conceited friend named Damon pretends to be disinterested. When the hypnotic Steven attempts to take his victim away from the man who truly loves her, the master of animal magnetism is murdered! Who was the heroic killer? Another loving admirer?

De Mortuis   B

(Charles Laughton) From: De mortuis nihil nisi bonum (Speak no ill of the dead). Dr. Rankin is doing some concrete work in the basement when two hunting buddies let themselves in. No, his wife Irene isn’t down there… not until Rankin learns that no one in town would have blamed him. I mean, she was two-timing him. But when the commercial traveler that his buddies “saw her leave with” comes back to town, the docs gotta cover for himself. Unfortunately, first George gets squirrelly, then Greg wants a payoff. [Adapted from John Collier. Also by: Alfred Hitchcock Presents]

Dead Alive, The   B

A man vacations at a distant relative’s place to de-stress, but the old mansion holds tension a-plenty! Jealousy leads to murder, and a man’s bones are fished out of a lime kiln, but is he really dead? An attempt is made on the vacationer’s life! Was it the gorgeous house guest? The ghost of the groundskeeper? The jealous heir? Or the woman who lost her secret lover?

Dead Ernest   B

A cataleptic is mistaken for dead. His identification letter and medic alert bracelet are stolen! Will he be embalmed at the morgue? Great suspense! (Also adapted for the television series, 1949.)

Dead Sleep Lightly, The   B

War. Two resistance fighters off an old couple when they prove to be a liability that threatens their work and lives. After the war, the bodies are discovered and the men tried. Are they patriots… or murderers? Not scary, just sad.

Death at Live Oak   B

Diana Blake is contemplating suicide because her abusive husband has forced himself back into her life. By odd coincidence, she meets a man who is a dead ringer for her husband also down on his luck after his brothers ran their business into the ground… and he falls in love with her. They concoct a scheme where they’ll invite Mr. Melville to a cottage in the mountains, but he won’t return. David Southerland will assume his identity and the two will live in happiness. Except Melville isn’t going to let that happen. Noir perfection.

Death at Skrikerud Pond   C

WWII: When an older couple in occupied Norway is compromised after their son, a wounded resistance fighter, bleeds his way home, they call on the underground to get them across the border. Arnie Loyken & Sven Hanson agree reluctantly to take Mr. and Mrs. Helmann after the old man threatens to tell the Gestapo their whereabouts… but the old couple can’t move fast, too tired, and a Nazi patrol is coming. They threaten to destroy the underground. Killing them is a thing of war, of need. But years later when the bodies of the couple are found, Arnie and Sven are brought to trial for murder. Have people forgotten the days of wrath and war when all men had orders to kill those who were a threat to liberty? [Based on the Feldmann Case. See an article of the same name in Harper’s Magazine by Ted Olson (May 1953).]

Death Has a Shadow   C

(Bob Hope) Harvey Warren, a lawyer, a man who had everything, (until the day his wife Lilly was murdered,) receives a call from a hired gun named Bolster who wants to pick up his money tonight at 10pm. Why would he come to the office at night instead of waiting to receive it as agreed? Only one reason: something went wrong, and Warren won’t see the sunrise. Warren tries to hunt down his trusted friend Police Lt. Joe Scarpone before ten o’clock. Suspense builds as we learn the history between Warren and the cop who arrested him for murdering his wife. Warren was exonerated. The guy on his way up the elevator is the real killer. He just figured out Warren’s double-jeopardy angle.

Death in Box 234   B

A bank clerk gets an idea for a heist when an old man who owns a pet shop comes in to finally deposit his cash into a safe-deposit box instead of stashing it in a covered bird cage. He offers a guy with no job a cut of the take for going into the vault with the key for the box below the one he actually rented. Problem is, the clerk starts to like the old man who comes in weekly to count his money and talk about his animal friends. Then one day he doesn’t look so good. The parrot bit him. Sadly, the old shop owner never discovers his cash missing.

Death Parade   C

(Agnes Moorehead) A very precise woman is thrown off her game when she discovers a letter on the ground, seemingly undelivered. Miss Johnson tries to hunt down the addressee because it is a warning. The man who killed Sheila Mannix’s boyfriend the year before is going to murder her at the same location this year during a parade. Tension mounts as the clock ticks down, and still no Miss Mannix. The lady makes some bad choices, like not calling the cops to begin with. In the end she is left with a coffee stained gray silk dress. Classic overacting by Moorehead.

Deep, Deep Is My Love   B

A deep sea diver is convinced he has seen a mermaid in a cave.Despite his partner’s warnings of nitrogen narcosis, he returns. The siren calls to him and he is entranced. When his wife comes to the rescue, he must make a choice. He makes a mistake.

Deep Into Darkness   C

(Douglas Fairbanks) Ken gets ten years for killing Lee Burke… then sees him on the street, alive! He follows the dead man home, then confronts the woman who helped set him up. Lila is now married to Lee, and they made a lot of money from the scam. Tension follows as Ken stays there in their house, drawing out the moment he decides to take revenge. Because you can’t be tried for killing a guy twice!

Destruction   B

A distressing, disturbing episode where a man loses his wife and job on the same day in a degrading manner. When he goes for a drink, he ends up beaten, broken in a gutter, laughed at. We hear the doctors discuss how he seems to have lost the will to live wile he is on the operating table. He dies. A parable… or a depressing slice-of-life?

Devil in the Summer House, The   C

A letter from a dead man introduces a whodunit where a man is believed to have killed himself until it is revealed that there is a phonograph recording proving it was murder. A confession to ‘set the record straight’. But is the recording a confession… or a setup? [Adapted from John Dickson Carr]

Devil’s Saint, The   C

(Peter Lorre) A protective father invites a prospective suitor to his daughter to spend the night in a haunted room. A secret passage! Someone tries to kill him! Was the wine drugged? [Adapted from John Dickson Carr] The Room

Devilstone   C

An Irishman inherits a castle. He discovers it is haunted when a ghost locks him in and kills his dog. The legend says the ghost will be the only inhabitant until his bones are dust, but the castle rests on limestone like St. Michan’s Church!

Diary of Dr. Pritchard, The   C

(Sir Cedrick Hardwicke) A doctor who puts up a great front in his diary slowly poisons his wife. His Mother-in-Law grows suspicious, so he kills her to get her out of the way. He gets caught, though. Based on a true story.

Diary of Saphronia Winters, The   B

Turns out Saphronia’s new husband is out hunting reincarnations of his brother’s murderess… He’s killed three others with her name already!

Digger, The   A

The sole survivor of a tunnel collapse is hired to re-open the mine. But it’s on forbidden ground, and when the natives try to smoke him and the foreman out, the miners aren’t the only ones who seek escape by running deeper within!

Dime a Dance   B

(Lucille Ball) One of the more frightening killer-on-the-loose stories. Dance hall girls are being killed by someone who dances with their bodies after they are dead and leaves behind a full night’s worth of dimes and a record of “My Sweet Butterfly”. Ginger believes she will be next because the killer always targets girls with red hair. She receives a police escort, but when he gets rough, a call to the station reveals they don’t have an officer by that name!

Doctor Prescribed Death, The   B

(Bela Lugosi) A psychologist gloats to his publisher he has convinced a suicidal woman to instead murder the source of her anguish– a cheating husband. But the publisher is himself cheating with the doctor’s wife…

Doll, The   A

A girl who lost her mother to a heart condition gets a doll with a heartbeat as a gift. Her father is a jerk and tries to get rid of the doll, so she runs away. A popcorn man’s monkey snatches the doll from her hands and rips at its hair as the vendor laughs. She knows if she lets the heart wind down something bad will happen to her. But she gets so tired…

Donovan’s Brain   A

Mad scientist keeps a brain alive after the body has died. The brain takes over the scientist’s mind… and then others’! [Adapted from Curt Siodmak]

Don’t Call Me Mother   B

(Agnes Moorehead) This mother has a very close relationship with her son. “Call me Laurie,” she demands. They are so close, that when Larry gets secretly married, she convinces him to kill his wife. Laurie helps, of course. He was so willing to believe her lies. This freaky episode is preceded by a moral disclaimer.

Double Ugly   D

A man who is ugly was ridiculed as a child, but marries because of peer pressure. His wife drives him crazy wanting to socialize, but he’s too jealous. She starts nagging him for children. He proves he is just as ugly inside when he kills her birds and her dog, then goes for his wife with bloody hands. There is no other plot. The interesting part is that the hammering you keep hearing in the background during his narrative is his own gallows.

Dreams   B

(Raymond Edward Johnson) A man whose dreams always come true has a premonition that he’ll be blocked from a promotion. When he is, he dreams of revenge! The jerk who blocked the promotion gets abusive, so the man purposely dreams of murder. He never really would, but the next dream is of… electrocution!

Drive-In   (1946) B

(Judy Garland) A young waitress is offered a ride by a customer when she misses the last bus home. When he drives past her house into the mountains, she has only a salt shaker to defend herself! Crime Thriller.

Dunwich Horror, The   B

A man keeps something locked in the attic awaiting Yog Sothoth. He dies before he can open the gate so there is no one to feed it, and it escapes! [Adapted from H.P. Lovecraft]

Early to Death   C

(Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz) Crime. A couple sabotage and jump out of an airplane, walking away with $300 Grand… and a murdered pilot. Then Rico, a man claiming to have witnessed them burying the money, kills Ben and coerces Edie into taking him to the money. A tension-filled showdown: Who will kill who first?

Earth Is Made Of Glass, The   B

“Commit a crime, and the Earth is made of glass…” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson (Joseph Cotten) Another guy gets it in his head that he can commit the perfect murder. He walks to a random part of town and stabs a random man, then flees into the night. But the guilt; he didn’t figure on that. Going against his original plan, Richard Steel researches who he had stabbed… just before the murdered man appears before him! (1945 and 1954 versions)

Elwood   B

Elwood has dreams of going somewhere in life. He has very strong hands. He has a collection of trinkets that he looks at to remind himself of his goals. Soon, a rash of stranglings begin in town, and a vigilante committee is formed! They all blame old man Krantz the recluse, but Elwood knows it’s not him!

Escape of Lacey Abbott, The   B

A lunatic escapes the Bellevue psych ward and corners Martin Avery, the man who framed him for murder. Avery is trapped in his own apartment, Lacey threatening to kill his wife and infant son. “Why did you kill my wife?!” Will Avery crack? Will Lacey kill Avery’s family like he killed his lawyer? Did Avery really kill Lacey’s wife, Kate?

Evil of Adelaide Winters, The   B

A psychic becomes indispensable to a man who lost his son. She allows him to hire her services permanently, despite warnings from her assistant, and marries the widower who now believes his son wants them all to be a family… forever!

Experiment 6-R   B

An assistant manager at a ritzy hotel is jealous of his boss, Mr. Koblenz who lives in a penthouse apartment. When the boss rubs it in with a degrading task of making him serve coffee, Mr. Brant sees his only clear path to promotion. It won’t happen while his boss is alive. One day the staff complains that a guest has brought live rats into the hotel. They are the caged, experimental rats of a scientist trying to cure a human-like disease called 6-R that will develop in the test subjects if given a yellow powder for a few months. 3:15 coffee? The final line is a “kick him while he’s down” so cruel I had to laugh.

Fall of The House of Usher, The   B

A well-done version of Poe’s classic chiller about a narcoleptic woman who is placed in the family crypt by her afflicted brother. She wakes in her coffin and returns for revenge! They are the last of the Usher line, and fulfill the family curse as their mansion crumbles during a red rain. [Adapted from Edgar Allan Poe]

Feast of the Furies   B

Casey takes Sam “for a ride.” Sam has a bump on his head and his hands are tied. Still, Casey wants to be his friend. The plot is slowly, carefully revealed. Sam won’t be coming back after he is tied to the pier at high tide. He actually has a chance when he reliably explains how it was all a misunderstanding…but Casey doesn’t like being called an idiot. (Not even by his boss!)

Finishing School (1943)   C

(Elsa Lanchester) Dean Sterling holds seances that convince Mrs. Nash, a school founder and underwriter, to grant her increasingly more power. Mrs. Nash’s niece Flora gets sick, and her digitalis (heart medicine) goes missing! Can the new Mrs. Watts discover the clue that proves who the culprit is? Is it the evil Miss Sterling, who believes she should have been the Dean? …Or the welcoming Miss Melody? An all female cast!

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (1943)   B

Retired stage actress Marsha Blair was warned through letters addressed from her dead no-good husband Barry that if she marries Howard White, she will be dead within a year. On the night of their wedding anniversary, the cursed couple goes to the theater to see The Scottish Play. Howard posts guards outside their private box, but Marsha is found murdered. Suspicious-looking special effects master Ludwig VonArnheim shows up and starts asking questions. He discovers Marsha has been stabbed through the eye into the brain with a set of gruesomely deadly opera glasses! [By John Dixon Carr]

Flesh Peddler   A

(DeForest Kelly) A talent agent wants to sign a ventriloquist act at a carnival.

Formula for Death   D

An old scientist develops a formula others would do anything to keep their enemies from having. When his assistant reveals he is a spy the scientist drives off a cliff to protect the formula with his life! The assistant survives and delivers the memorized formula to the ‘good guys’… the formula that the curmudgeon took with him to the grave!

Fragile! Contents: Death   C

Someone calls the post office saying a time bomb was mailed, set to go off at 2:30 this afternoon; just five hours from now! It was supposed to be set for 7:00 as a hit, but the bomber forgot to set the timer. Some innocent person might get killed when it goes off who knows where! Great banter while the postmaster coordinates with his top men to get those trucks back in and hunt down the hot package. Suspense is heavy. A fun episode.

Fugue in C Minor   A

(Vincent Price) A man’s wife haunts a mansion with an organ in the walls. He murders his wives with his terrible organ music.

Furnished Floor, The   B

When a man returns to the apartment he lived in before he lost his first wife and begins to piece it back together identical to the way it looked when she died, the landlady grows suspicious. Why has she never seen the new Mrs. Jennings? Great suspense at the end when he… re-introduces his wife!

Fury and Sound   C

A radio director decides he’s had enough of standing in his conceited producer’s shadow (who’s been taking his wife to dinner,) and comes up with a plan to drive “Roachler” (he refers to himself in 3rd person,) insane! Charlie Fowler uses a contact microphone to gaslight Roachler into thinking the torturous sounds he broadcasts are him developing hypersensitive hearing. The wife is out with sleeping powder. At the end Charlie turns the sounds off, but still hears them himself. Not very original ending, but the whole thing was a kind of a radio in-joke. [Also adapted for the TV series The Unexpected (1952)]

Game, The   B

Two bored teenage boys decide to get drunk one afternoon. Red gets drunk and starts mouthing off about how Pin hasn’t got any guts, and he bet if they played a game he heard of called Russian Roulette, he would chicken out. Pin disagrees. He thinks Red would chicken out first, and Red says his dad has a .38 pistol. Pretty soon they realize they’ve each bet their reputations so deep there is no way out. Aside from the game itself, this could have been any two boys from any time in history. Great storytelling.

Ghost Hunt   B

A radio personality plays up a ghost-hunting stunt in a haunted house… until he is heard choking to death upstairs! He learns he shouldn’t taunt the supernatural!

Girl In Car 32, The   B

(Victor Mature) An undercover cop is assigned to sit next to a gangster’s girlfriend in order to elicit information about where he’s hidden the loot. Genevieve Josephine Johnson is the target. But she doesn’t seem the type to fall for a thug like Fitzy Hollister. She’s a nice girl. Bright Eyes Mahoney starts to fall for the tomato. Too bad it’s a pinch.

Good Night, Mrs. Russel   B

(Bette Davis) A psychopath abducts a woman and locks her in his bedroom. He hears whispers and is convinced she is part of a conspiracy to kill him. He tells her he is going to kill her, but she convinces him to free her hands. Will she escape? Well, not the first time.

Great Horrell, The   B

A mentalist control’s his wife’s mind completely. She tries to escape but is unable to ask for a divorce. Afraid she will be his puppet forever, she shoots The Great Horrell… but was it really him she shot at on stage? Was it all in her mind?

Green-Eyed Monster   B

A man kills his wife, framing a local murderer, and marries his mistress. She soon begins to disappear evenings. Could she be the ripper? Yes! But then the man finds himself staring at another corpse in his trunk: his second wife!

Guilty Always Run, The   B

(Tyrone Power, William Conrad) Janey is jealous when her husband Jeff gets phone calls from Karen. Janey fell off a surfboard on vacation and while her hip was in a cast, Jeff met another woman. But the phone call begs: “Help me, Jeff, please!” Karen goes missing. Then we learn Jeff broke up with her the night before causing quite the public scene. He’s the prime suspect… but Jeff finds her body in the surf. His vacation rental neighbor Lou offers to lie and give Jeff an alibi. Now why would he do that?

Hands of Mr. Ottermole, The   B

(Vincent Price, Claude Rains) A “Jack the Ripper type” is on the loose in London! Try to figure out who the murderer is before the end reveal! Stymied by a strangler’s Ripper-style murder spree, a newspaper man catches the interest of a local constable. He and the cop play a game of growing suspicion at the scene of each crime until the killer is tripped up! A predictable resolution to a classic, made palatable by the caliber of its actors. [Adapted from Thomas Burke. Also by Molle Mystery Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and a Suspense Television Episode.]

Heads, You Lose   A

(Raymond Edward Johnson) A private investigator is hired to locate a man name Franklin who disappeared years ago (with mental illness). But the client got a call from him yesterday; a broker who was directed to sell short a stock that plummeted. The investigator finds a mad scientist masquerading as the dead man… who then reveals Franklin’s head alive in a tank! The persuasive dick offers to be a business partner to earn the money for a lab to develop a new body, but Franklin offers Mr. Kimberly the investigator 200 Grand to pull the plug. The creep plans a double-cross, but Professor Green overhears… he goes crazy shooting a gun… Guess where Kimberly wakes up? Raymond from Inner Sanctum plays the head of Mr. Franklin.

Headshrinker   B

(Agnes Moorehead) A smart monologue given by a woman on a psychiatrist’s couch. She loves her shrink. But slowly, craftily, his unethical practices are revealed through her reminiscences. She explains how he convinces patients to divorce their husbands for him before he kicks them to the curb for the next victim! Not horror, but a great story. (October 1958 version starred Nina Foch and Helmut Dantine)

Heart’s Desire   B

A guy wandering the docks at night runs into a well-dressed woman and tells her his sad story. Growing up in poverty, sets his sights on being the manager of a bank. When he is surprised with his 20 year gold watch, he realizes there is only one way to realize his dream of sailing on the Aquitania. He steals a fortune, claiming he “just lost” the payroll. He does four years while the cash is in a package at a pawn shop with no claim ticket… only a passphrase. But he starts talking in his sleep in prison, so he puts the code-word out of his mind. Completely. Until recounting his tale helps him remember!

High Wall, The   C

A man wakes up in a hospital room and is told he is a killer. He escapes, convinced he was setup, but he keeps smelling his wife’s perfume…

Hitchhike Poker   B

(Gregory Peck) A hitchhiker is picked up by a friendly guy who teaches him to play poker with passing license plates, then goes nuts and tries to kill him! The hitchhiker sees a license plate with “four of a kind” plates pick up the lunatic after the maniac crashes the car. It’s all an elaborate setup for a double-indemnity insurance scam.Thrilling adventure! When he finally catches a ride with a nice lady, he recognizes her horn… and her license plate! She’s taking him for a ride!

Hitchhiker, The   B

The classic urban legend as recounted by Orson Welles. His introduction even pokes fun at Hitchcock. Great!

Honest Man, An   C

(Charles Laughton) Laughton plays a mild-mannered man with an everyday job and a crush on his co-worker. She says she’d only be interested in a man with money, so $10 is borrowed from the till… but he loses his bet on a horse race. When the boss does the receipts, he absolutely cannot discover that Freddie is a thief! It’s OK; being an honest man, he turns himself in for the murder!

House in Cypress Canyon   B

A strange, bleeding door with no key in a couple’s new home leads to terror. It opens at night and draws the wife inside, where she is infected by a werewolf!

Hunting Trip, The   A+

(Vincent Price) Two friends go on a hunting trip in the remote forest. One, Eric, who is jealous that Stan married the woman he was in love with, leaves out a notebook that talks about his friend Stan …and the four ways to commit murder. Strangulation. Bullet. Drowning. Poison. A scenario for the possibility of each plays out during the trip; a rough awakening, a stray shot, the boat overturns. But it’s only a series of accidents. Stan even saves Eric’s life when the boat tips. It was all just nervous paranoia and all that talk from Eric and his fascination with true crime. Karen’s dead now, he can’t still be jealous.

I Never Met The Dead Man   C

(Danny Kaye) Walking home from work, Joe Wickoff witnesses a hit. Callan, the beat cop who knows him like a friend takes him in on suspicion for the murder because he’s the only other person around! Chips from Pigeon Watts’ gambling house are found in Joe’s drawer. He’s the one who really put the contract out. But the cards fall into place. Joe’s being set up by the two people closest to him. “Who’s the guy, Bela?” he yells… as the car crashes.

In Fear and Trembling   C

(Mary Astor) Gothic. Lucia’s sister-in-law moves into the family mansion and she grows jealous of Beverly, believing her husband Gil is falling for her. Gil offers Lucia a “tonic” containing strychnine, then when she refuses it, he suspiciously dismisses the maid for the evening. But Mrs. Benson sneaks back in at midnight… to discover Lucia’s bed covered in blood! Did her husband do away with her? With no corpus delecti, he can’t be tried for murder!

Jack Ketch   C

John Price is tormented by those who know him as the king’s hangman. When he is thrown in debtor’s prison he develops a hatred for a man who once worked for him. After escaping and killing a woman for cash, Price is himself sent to the gallows… and guess who has his old job?

John Barbie and Son   B

A man promises his deceased wife he will never allow them to take their mentally challenged son away to the psych ward. When they do finally come for him, the pair run. They make it as far as the next town before the authorities force a showdown…

Joker Wild   C

A comedian wants to know he can do more than make people laugh; he wants to make them cry, too. He wants to show a world that only seems interested in his funny-guy appearance that he can be serious. So he kills a woman by pushing her off a cliff. When he tells his girlfriend, she doesn’t believe him! So he kills her, too. The end.

Kaleidoscope   B

Seven… no, five… astronauts float toward death in space, recounting their rivalries and regrets, taking their resentfulness about the situation out on each other after their spacecraft explodes and they eject. They each have a unique perspective on their inevitable end. The last returns to Earth as a shooting star. [Adapted from Ray Bradbury]

Kettler Method, The   A

When a couple visit a family friend who happens to be the head of an asylum, they realize that the Dr. Kettler who welcomes them is not Dr. Morrisey’s assistant… but a patient! There’s been an uprising! And Claire has been taken to the operating room to help cure her headaches while Leslie is locked in the cellar with Dr. Morrisey. Kettler, you see, is a failed brain surgeon. Khefre, the eight-foot tall groundskeeper adds a layer of tension to the terror!

Korean Christmas Carol, A   C

A classic ghost story. An American soldier in the Korean War picks up a hitchhiker who shares a story of wartime sacrifice. He leaves his bag behind, and when the driver returns it, the hitchhiker’s unit is long since gone. A school is there instead, and the bag filled with gifts.

Lady In Distress   B

(Ava Gardner) A woman driving alone picks up a hitchhiker in the rain one night. He just escaped the state penitentiary looking to make a revenge killing. It’s her husband. Turns out she’s The wife of a domineering policeman and has had enough. She’s the one who bankrolled his escape! And that’s just the halfway mark!

Lady In The Red Hat   C

(Van Heflin) Mitch, a magazine section reporter; Jane Grey, a fellow reporter, and police Lieutenant Bill Dowel, all receive letters stating if they want to discover the identity of “The Avenger,” a serial killer who has been knocking off women who are wearing red, they should go to a downtown chapel at midnight. Pretty good suspense as they skirt conversation about how likely it is that one of them is the murderer. At midnight, they find out!

Last Detail, The   C

Professor Moffat is tricked into taking the fall for a murder when a crime boss discovers a movie-set replica of his house. Moffat is forced to point a gun while pictures of the killing are taken on the secluded film lot. When the police arrive as expected, the observant professor is ready with proof of the differences between his house and the fake set, like the newly replaced light fixture, but they aren’t there to investigate evidence of a shooting…

Last Night   B

Gil Blaine and his wife Jacqueline have a Hudson Valley dude ranch that is $2,500 in debt. Mr. Burroughs won’t help him out with a loan, but somehow Gil has the money the day after Burroughs suddenly disappears. He even left his assistant, Mr. Marsh behind along with the suits in his closet. Did Gil really drop him off to take the 4:30am milk train home… or was there foul play? Burroughs was murdered alright, but by whom? [Written by Cornell Woolrich]

Lazarus Walks   C

A man who died on the surgery table(for four minutes), finds he can discern the truth of any statement– and feels compelled to call out any lie. His doctor, Roger Holcomb, invites him into his home strategically so his wife Isabel will hear that he’s afraid she’ll die if she learns to support herself with a piano career. Then Robert frames Isabel for Roger’s murder! (For the money; he never really loved her…) But once Robert kills the soothsayer, he himself feels an uncomfortable urge to tell the truth.

Library Book, The   B

(Myrna Loy) A librarian discovers a sin: a book has been vandalized! Upon examination, she finds a mystery. Words have been cut from a missing page… words forming a ransom note! Being an adventurous librarian, she rents the apartment of the last patron to borrow the book, who has gone missing. When a guy comes for her things,the librarian follows and ends up in the clutches of kidnappers! Spooked,the thugs set fire to the house! [Adapted from Cornell Woolrich]

Lie, The   B

(Mickey Rooney) A kid who just got kicked out of college returns home to find his step-mom dead, his dad’s newspaper fresh from Boston (where he was away on business) on the table, and one of his dad’s favorite Turkish cigarettes smoldering in the ashtray. The loving kid lies to the police saying he did it, and even takes it as far as scratching his own face with her dead nails. Except Dad was away at the spa all day, and has many alibis. Too late. The son goes to trial.

Life Ends at Midnight B

Walter Bates pleads with his mother; he needs $1500 before midnight or he’ll get ten years! But mom already cashed in her bond then he discovers his mother’s lodger Mr. Chalmers has a life insurance policy for 200 Grand. Walter convinces Chalmers to make his mother his beneficiary, then does some work fixing up the place. For instance, he moves the gas heater right next to Mr. Chalmers’ bed. The first night, Mom forgets to put a quarter in the gas meter. The second night, Mr. Chalmers does her a favor and puts the money in while he and Mrs. Bates go out for the evening. Walter’s frantic monologuing thickens the tension.

Light Switch, The   B

A woman believes her husband is cheating and hires a private investigator. He tells her about a case where a lady rigged a clock to blow up a gas-filled apartment. She gets clever, too, but when she inhales too much gas will she escape? Was her husband innocent?

Little Piece of Rope, A   A

(Lucille Ball) Con-woman discovers her latest patsy is a murderer. Crime noir.

Lodger, The &nbpsp; B

(Peter Lorre, Agnes Moorehead) Slowly, a woman begins to suspect her new lodger may be a wanted murderer… and he’s home alone with her daughter. A classic. [Adapted from Marie Belloc Lowndes, also a Hitchcock movie (1927), etc.]

Lonely Road, The   A

(Gregory Peck) Steve and his wife Helen hire a new housekeeper. Her name is Jenny, and she has a kind of “gypsy arrogance about her,” a boldness that makes Helen uneasy, “as if she had something to cope with.” Oh yes, Jenny has designs on Helen’s husband, and convinces him with her sensual wiles to murder his wife. Steve narrates the murder slowly. His walk up to the house, his thought process building up… But Helen’s seen it coming.

Lord of the Witch Doctors, The   C

Political intrigue on the island of Zanzibar. A German vying for trade rights poses as a witch doctor to influence local tribal chieftains. When the Caliph of Zanzibar is “accidentally” thrown wounded to a caged lion, his son threatens to kill all Europeans if the witch doctor does not cure him. German gun magic vs. English ingenuity; which will triumph? [by John Dickson Carr]

Lunatic Hour, The   C

The ghost of a train engineer threatens to crash the 11:15 on the anniversary of his death. Mobsters are using the signalman’s guilt over the engineer’s death to stop the train on the anniversary of its crash and off a guy who is on board. [Also Inner Sanctum: “Unforgiving Corpse”] Am I Going Crazy?

Man Who Knew How, The   C

(Charles Laughton) A discussion on a train leads a man to believe that a rash of heart-failure deaths is really a murder spree! Sulphate of Thanatol might be used for the perfect crime. To stop the spree, the man kills the murderer… but was it only a prank? No! [Adapted from Dorothy Sayers]

Man Who Wanted to be Edward G. Robinson, The   C

(Edward G. Robinson) Crime. A henpecked husband approaches “Eddie” hoping to become more of a he-man like his wife’s heartthrob. He bought a gun to off her and is looking for tips on how to pull it off, but Mr. Robinson turns the tables and stages a break-in where the mild-mannered husband can shoot a burglar and look the hero.

Man With No Body, The   D

When people see gloves spinning a record in old man Ainsmith’s rental apartment window, and a local claims he was almost killed by an invisibe man, an angry mob ensues! But Ainsmith is ready for them and exposes the hoax. The twist? He’s a German spy who was once a magician! [Written by John Dixon Carr]

Man With Steel Teeth, The   C

During the cold war, a journalist is captured in Russia and tortured by a man with metal teeth. He escapes when his cell door is “accidentally” left open. The man pursues the journalist through Berlin to a final showdown. But it wasn’t a plan for murder… it was the MVD Inspector’s plot to escape the Iron Curtain himself! Nice propaganda story, even ends with a John Wayne style American right-cross!

Marvelous Barastro, The   A

(Orson Welles) A classic tragedy. A fortune-telling magician feels threatened when another psychic performer moves in on his blind wife and partner. Rico Sansonne ingratiates himself to the couple, all the while learning to perfectly mimic the voice of Barastro. Eventually, one night, he goes to his wife, Anna, and makes love to her. Bursting in on them with Anna’s weak heart would destroy her! So he waits outside. Rico kills Anna anyway. Welles plays both psychics. I thought Lorre did almost as well in the Mystery in the Air version.

Menace in Wax   C

When a newspaper man finds a secret code left in the way wax figures are playing cards, they figure the Nazis are coming to dive-bomb Q-factory. He and a rival newsie, a woman with a pretentious fake french accent, head out to the secret location with War Office passes. No one believes them until the strafing runs begin. Then they chase a spy who is supposed to light a match at ten o’clock and light up the target area with an outline drawn in flaming oil.

Metallophobia   C

A wealthy invalid living with her sister is taken advantage of until one night a blackmailer is shot with a burglar’s gun. The lady in the wheelchair covers for her housekeeper, whose blackmail-gained brooch is found at the scene. Is it because of her vulnerability, her fear of the touch of metal? The ending, where the culprit is in jail, –despite having committed no apparent crime– feels like it was tacked on by a censorship board. I’m going to pretend they got away with it!

Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer   B

A couple murder their blackmailer in a store filled with eerie clocks, but they were warned he would haunt them less than an hour later if they did. Sure enough, the late Mr. Markham walks in the door right on cue! Do they dare to kill him again? [Adapted from John Dickson Carr]

Moment of Darkness   B

(Peter Lorre, George Zucco) A woman asks her family lawyer to prove medium George Ravel (Lorre) is a phony in order to protect her wealthy aunt from being taken advantage of. The handsome young lawyer (Zucco) is murdered in a locked room… but what if I told you Ravel was really Secret Service? A mentalist trade secret is revealed! [Adapted from John Dickson Carr]

Momentum   B

(Victor Mature) Dick’s been out of work for six months letting his wife support him. When they are about to be evicted, he goes to the factory he invented a special tool for and demands payment. The boss makes him an offer but Dick wants more. When he is refused, Dick kills him. Then he kills the bartender who catches him sneaking out the back… murder after murder, gathering momentum until he ends up with a bullet in his neck. Well played out. [Adapted from Cornell Woolrich]

Most Dangerous Game, The   A

(Orson Wells) A hunter named Sanger Rainsford washes ashore when his ship is wrecked on the rocks, and finds himself in the care of another globe traveling big game hunter. General Zaroff once grew bored of hunting, It lost its challenge after a buffalo charged him and he still brought in the head of what Zaroff defines as the most dangerous game. His host assures him it is not. Even if you had to read this in high school, Wells is worth a listen. It’s an exciting contest of two seasoned killers pitted against one another. Rainsford tries a number of traps and strategies the usual men who wash ashore are not creative enough to use, and is successful enough to face off with his captor one last time in a fencing duel! This must have been done on Escape as well. Shockingly this fails the Bechdel test, but stands as a classic highly recommended for fans of Robert E. Howard and all adolescent males. [Adapted from Richard Connell]

Murder For Myra   B

Myra is stifled in her marriage and convinces a poll taker to kill for her. Earnest Cobb reminisces about how he landed there standing in the upstairs closet waiting for the couple to get home. A big hammer in his hand, he waits for the right time, following Myra’s plan to the letter. The ending becomes too obvious, but what a payoff in blood! Lights out! You have to bear the suspense because you know what’s going to happen, but there’s nothing you can do. The sick part is that this happens with their child in the next room. This episode is not for kids.

Murder of Aunt Delia, The   B

(Van Heflin) A man picks up a hitchhiker that looks just like him. Glendon Brayley is on his way to meet his rich old Aunt whom he hasn’t seen in 17 years. The drifter is Dorch Sharples, and he makes a study of Glen’s mannerisms… so he can take his place after he kills him. Auntie buys the masquerade and He sets up his girlfriend Rina as a caretaker, tasking her with the murder. Unfortunately Glen forgets a few details.

Murder On Mike   B

(Orson Welles) Christopher Turner, writer of radio’s Murder, Please, gets so angry when the producer he writes for terminates his contract that he decides hes going to show him “what murder really sounds like!” Chris invites Ken Avery’s daughter over and gets abusive to lure Ken to his office after it’s been rigged with microphones, phone recorders… and a loaded gun. He’s going to live stream the murder.

Name of The Beast   (1943)B

A painter covers the tracks of a murderer so that the thug will pose for him: “Portrait of a Beast”… still dripping with blood. He manipulates Krebs’ girlfriend to get the loot. Will Dorrence, the artist, spill everything to protect the young woman, incriminating himself? Is he being played by Jeanie?

Narrative About Clarence, A   B

A woman’s estranged brother returns from India and hypnotizes her daughter. He tells the husband he’s going to kill his family for revenge. In defense, the man sets fire to his house when he believes only Clarence to be home.

Neill Cream, Doctor of Poison   B

(Charles Laughton) A doctor slowly poisons his wife, then writes a study on it and mails it to a medical journal! Next he moves on to a woman who he discovers is using him for his money. But when Cream tries to frame a medical student living in his boarding house for the murder, he slips up. Charles Laughton’s disinterested voice makes Cream’s sociopathic disregard striking. [Also broadcast as “A Story of Poison” without Laughton]

Never Follow a Banjo Act   (1954)C

(Ethel Merman) An Ethel Merman vehicle. A new star crooner gets all put out when the mature lady hired to replace his partner doesn’t fawn all over him. Just like he did with his last duet partner, a young woman who died violently. He gets confused and tries to kill the new act too! Ethel sings “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart!”

Never Steal A Butcher’s Wife   A+

Harry gets a job as a stock clerk at one of those new-fangled “super-markets” where the beer coolers are in the same store as the deli. When the stunning front checkout woman comes on to him, how can Harry resist? He tries to get himself untangled when he discovers she is married to the jealous behemoth of a butcher! He double-crosses another clerk, but Kraus finds out. The chase scene at the end is the most intense I’ve heard on radio. It doesn’t get better than this.

Night Man, The   C

A woman who testified against her mother’s killer is convinced the murderer is her building’s new elevator attendant. She’s trapped in an elevator with him! Good twist. Am I Going Crazy? B

Night on Red Mountain   C

A guy who fled the mob is discovered living with his pregnant wife in the mountains. The Boss gives him one last chance to come back to work; when he refuses, the Boss flies out from Vegas to meet with him in person. Tension fills the night air as they await the killers’ arrival in a blizzard. He’ll be comin’ up the mountain in a T-bird with slicks on its wheels. The writers project the twist so hard its satisfying when it arrives.

Night Reveals, The   B

A fire investigator believes his wife may be the local arsonist. The ending was changed for the worse from the original text. [Adapted from Cornell Woolrich] (Suspense produced four versions of this script. Also: Suspense Comics #69, and on television: Presenting Boris Karloff.

Nightmare   C

(Gregory Peck) When a man’s son is killed by a drunk driver, he strangles the killer out of sheer rage when his wife fingers him at a bar down the street. This episode was not fun to listen to. It was very well written and acted, but my stomach was in a knot the entire time. Just a Dream

Nineteen Deacon Street   C

A tie salesman rents a room where a woman once went missing. He is drawn to rent an old theater as his new storefront after he begins having visions, but the owner is not interested in leasing.

No Escape   C

A man murders his wife when she won’t give him a divorce, but the next day people show up at the door saying she made appointments with them! But there is no way she could have lived… Am I Going Crazy? B

No More Alice   C

Dr. Warren Wright wants to make things like they were ten years ago with his estranged wife Alice. At least that’s what he says before the doctor invites convicted murderer Frankie Tatum into his home to… “study” the way his mind works. Of course, Warren sets Frankie up so his mind goes down a clear track to Alice’s demise… in fact, he’s the one that arranged for Frankie to be sprung and had his car waiting for him on a lonely mountain road to escape the police. Soon he’ll be free to pursue his wife’s friend Lisa. But Dr. Wright doesn’t realize that when things get hot… accidents happen.

Nothing Up My Sleeve   C

A woman confronts the emotionless man who framed her lover for a bank heist. Finding the money would clear his name, and she’s convinced it’s right there in the billiards room with them. She calls the police, but when they arrive, the cash has disappeared. Yet no one left the room! [Written by John Dixon Carr]

On A Lonely Road   B

A car breaks down with a maniac on the loose. Suspicion and murder. (An examination of suspicious hysteria like Twilight Zone‘s: “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”.)

One Hundred In The Dark   C

There are only six stories, they say; and conversation at a club explores this, eventually turning to the story of Rita Kildaire’s dinner party, where her sapphire ring was stolen. Whodunit? She doesn’t care so long as she gets it back. The lights are extinguished and they count to 100. When the lights come on, the ring has been returned to the table. There is no twist ending, or even a solution, and half the show’s allotted time is actually a slow count to one hundred! This is offered as proof that the the whole art of a detective story consists in the statement of the problem, and in response to a tale about a coin stolen at a similar party, with a stranger that refuses to be searched. [Adapted from Owen M. Johnson]

Out For Christmas   C

(Raymond Burr) As a Christmas episode, I guess it will stand. Joe Watson was just paroled early for good behavior. Out in time for Christmas. But he only wants one present: revenge. He discovers the cop who testified against him married his girl while he was in the clink for 10 to 20 years. He’ll gladly get the chair if it means paying Mike back. But when he arrives at their house, he discovers they have children… and guess who has a revolver hidden inside his Santa costume?

Pasteboard Box, The   A

A twin kills his wealthy brother after faking his own death and assumes his identity. Then he has to dispose of the body… but the head won’t fit in the suitcase! That box is the perfect size. But he can’t seem to get rid of it!

Peralta Map, The   B

An old hermit is hired to take two men out to the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. They have a map! But everyone who finds the mine ends up dead! Using the legend of an old soldier’s ghost, the men conspire against each other. We suspect the guide… but who shoots him? [Similar to The Witch’s Tale: Lost Black Crow Mine]

Pigeon in the Cage   B

A wallpaper contractor gets stuck in the elevator of a private mansion and overhears a man plotting to kill his wife… then gunshots! The murderer’s mistress grows suspicious of the stalled elevator. Then the wallpaperer’s wife calls! Janice tweaks out, but Mr. Rogers straightens her out with one hit. Too bad he dropped his gun in the elevator shaft.

Pink Camellias   B

(Marsha Hunt) Martha has lived in the shadow of her controlling and verbally abusive Aunt Abby since she was adopted. One day, cousin Neil Garson comes to visit, and Martha can see he only has Auntie’s inheritance on his mind. But she falls in love with him, and he allows her to think they can share the money and live together (as long as he’s in control) allowing Martha to commit the murder, then rejecting her. But the gardener whose pest poison fueled Aunt Abby’s demise knows. This one even manages a twist ending. I was rooting for Martha the whole time.

Plan X   C

(Jack Benny) Earth sends an exploration ship to Mars, but being a superior race, the Martians enact “Plan X” when they see us coming. As a sole factory worker is chosen to lead the Earthlings around, children begin a game that requires Uranium.

Post Mortem   B

(Agnes Moorehead) A guy who keeps dropping his wife’s sun-lamp on the floor near the tub gets mad when Mrs. Archer orders her first husband exhumed to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. Does a hundred Grand overcome Harry’s reticence in desecrating Steven’s resting place? What does the grave reveal? Am I Going Crazy? 1B

Present Tense   C

(Vincent Price) A man escapes prison after killing his wife… twice! Groundhog’s Day with a murderous twist!

Pretty Girl   B

A young college co-ed starts dating her instructor, Ray. When the not-yet-Associate Professor gets too needy, and she has passed his class, she dumps him. He doesn’t care for that much, so when Emmy is alone at Professor Church’s house doing research while the old man is out with his wife… Ray comes for an uninvited visit. I don’t care for the morality play here, it makes Emmy out to be a tease who pays for her lasciviousness through a violent encounter. Adult premise and violent outcome, trigger warning.

Rain Tonight   D

A convict takes advantage of a fellow inmate who has an upcoming parole because the kid is an altar boy. The bad guy ties up the priest and has his new “partner” walk him out the back gate in his vestments. But of course the kid rats him out… and he gets mad. That’s all folks.

Rave Notice &nbpsp; B

(Vincent Price) Sam, an actor, is fired, insulted by his director, so he swears revenge on Norman. He shoots his hated director in public and is arrested, but gives the performance of his life, convincing the doctors he is insane to avoid the death penalty. Until he believes Norman didn’t actually die. Price gives a truly fantastic performance: “I want to kill a rat. An awful big rat, a fat rat.” but the story itself is mediocre.

Red-Headed Woman, The   C

(Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz) A jilted secretary decides to nab the payroll and high-tail it to Mexico, but runs into a couple the radio describes as having robbed a bank. She overhears the man kill his partner, a red-head. He catches her watching! He kidnaps her and they continue driving south, taking turns tricking the gun away from each other, two criminals on the run! …or are they?

Return to Dust   B

A perspective on the incredible shrinking of a scientist who overstepped his cell-shrinking cancer cure. He tries to call for help, reflects on his life, and frees his pet budgie. He plans to hop onto a culture slide at the last minute. Leaving a note for his supervisor, the only man who can save him, telling how to reverse the process no matter how small he becomes, the now smaller doctor has the horrific realization that his boss could easily… not, and take credit for his cure. The ending is a perfect, vague cheep.

Return Trip   C

A small group of people on a bus departing a lunatic asylum are told that a murderer has escaped. It seems likely they are on board, but which person is it? Don’t worry, it’s not a cop-out, one of them really is the killer! There is evidence for each of them… [Similar to Dr. Who episode Midnight, Twilight Zone’s The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, and Suspense, On A Country Road.]

Rim Of Terror   C

Elizabeth Whitehill, a nice girl from Vermont, picks up a hitchhiker in her “Mer-ce-deez” who turns out to be an (ex-)foreign spy for “The Left Arm.” No one believes Elizabeth when she tells them the truck that hauled Alex away wasn’t really a happy wagon, it was three spies who didn’t want him to defect. Until finally a policeman listens. The cop soon gets shot by men from the Left Arm. Torkel, her pet husky, also gets shot and dies. But Alex Peck the spy lives, thanks to Elizabeth’s efforts.

Search for Henri LeFevre, The   C

A composer drafts a masterpiece… then hears it on the radio, note for note! Who is this henri lefevre who can read minds? Lefevres wife visits Adolphus Flynn with a heartbreaking explanation. Another riff on the Pavane theme. [Written by Lucille Fletcher. Also replayed on Mercury Summer Theatre.]

Second Door, The   B

Sci-Fi. Gordon Saunders goes to the mountains to rest, but hallucinates a woman in a red dress. She turns out to be quite real, the daughter of a scientist who lives nearby in a white house with yellow shutters… that isn’t really there! Marissa’s father has invented a booth to transport a person anywhere in the world… as a ghost!

Sell Me Your Life   C

The wife of a wealthy banker talks a man down from a bridge where he’s going to commit suicide and invites him home, offering him a job as a bodyguard for her husband. Before he can start work, he’s arrested for murder. The banker, Andrew Bodeen, has been shot, and bridge-jumpin’ Joe Bland is framed! The butler fabricates a lie, but Bland talks him into double-crossing Mrs. Bodeen. The cops don’t care. Can he still prove his innocence?

Sequel to Murder &nbps; B

Unimaginative Frank Galt, an editor, is having an affair. He finally mans-up enough to ask for a divorce. Of course, Lillian wants everything; $2500 a month, the house, both cars, the stocks. Frank remembers a mystery manuscript titled Death on My Hands by Blaine Kittridge that just crossed his desk, and its plot inspires him. Half-suffocation, then set the room on fire. Funny thing, though. Blaine, the author who was sent a rejection letter, read the newspaper and recognized his story. [Written by E. Jack Neuman]

Shadow on the Wall, The   C

When Henry’s wealthy, bullying brother Roger wants to tear down the house they grew up in, he’s had enough and takes things into his own hands. Soon after he hides Richard’s body in the wet cement of a fireplace, a shadow appears on the wall… the silhouette of a hanged man! Henry discovers it’s the sunlight filtering through the rough-hewn chimney of his brother’s mansion. But don’t worry. The groundskeeper is almost done dismantling it.

She   B

An expedition to a lost city in the unexplored reaches of Africa reveal an ancient race of people led by a woman who is immortal! The explorer isthe reincarnation ofher lover ffrom a thousand years ago, destined to find her once again. Will he stay with her and become immortal himself? [Adapted from H. Rider Haggard]

Shelter, The   C

A woman waits in a bus shelter alone in the dark while an escaped lunatic is on the loose. She discovers she is not alone. Could it be the escapee? He acts weird and gets grabby when she tries to scream. He’s waiting for a friend who will be along soon. Predictable, but entertaining.

Short Order   C+

A gruff and horribly disfigured man with a penchant for ketchup becomes a regular at a diner and eventually drives away all the customers. Sadly the owner is forced to sell out. Will he discover the whole thing was a setup? In spades.

Shroud for Sarah, A   C

(Lucille Ball) A conniving woman uses three men to achieve her ambition of becoming a senator’s wife. Now each one wants to kill her! This episode is a freight train (Express to the Orient) that will leave you wondering… who killed Sarah?

Sin Eater, The   B

An ethno-musicologist and his wife are kidnapped in the mountains and forced to take on the sins of others! Will they escape? [Reminiscent of Manly Wade Wellman’s “Sin’s Doorway”. Also a Night Gallery episode, “Sins of the Fathers”, but very different.)

Singing Walls, The   C

Crime noir. A mug named Froggy frames a guy for murder, but the patsy’s brother-in-law is a cop. The music from next door offers a clue.

Sisters, The   C

A woman buys her own coffin. We then discover her deranged twin secretly resides with her, and just how jealous she’s always been. Is the coffin for her twin?

Six Feet Under   B

A carny who does a buried alive sideshow gets suspicious that his wife and their barker are going to kill him and run away together after some kid “accidentally” turns off his air pump. He buries the barker first. He kills the air supply! …Then his wife tells him what they were really planning. Too late!

Sleep is for Children   B

A woman is scared to stay home alone with her daughter while a strangler is on the loose. But sure enough, the killer shows up and eliminates her guest before threatening to kill the mother. Luckily there is this funny thing about landlines in the old days; they stay connected until the caller hangs up. And their little girl always forgets to put the receiver back. Not much in the way of plot twists, but a strong element of tension.

Smiley   C

Harold, a guy who used to whistle because he was happy was wrongly accused of assault by a woman. Now he hates dames. In fact, he figures since he did the time, he is owed payment. And the closest dame at hand is the waitress in the diner where he works. The dope leaves her purse in his rental car.

Snake Doctor   B

A hateful gadabout gets the idea to steal the snake oil man’s gold. He just knows it’s in a gap in the wall of the pariah’s cabin. He finds the perfect hiding spot for the body, but when he shoots him… the snake doctor is still standing on the porch! On the run, he sneaks into the cabin– but guess what’s in the hollow? [Adapted from: Irvin S. Cobb, Also by:Escape]

Snow on 66   B

(Grayson Hall from Dark Shadows) A vacationing couple is harassed by a bumpkin named Leroy who gets road rage and chases them down in his big red International Harvester pickup truck during a blizzard. (Its horn is annoying, and sounds just like the 9:42 Orange Empire Express.) The sheriff won’t do anything. When they decide it best to leave town, sure enough two headlights appear behind them

Somebody Help Me   B

A divorced guy picks up a woman, and though he’s not very assertive, he manages to take her to dinner and escape a few confrontations on the way. But when they go parking after a few beers, he gets carried away. Will he escape justice? He left a trail that’s easy to follow… but will his wife stand up for him?

Sorry, Wrong Number   A

(Agnes Moorehead) A woman overhears plans for a murder on the phone. This is an all-time classic because of the suspenseful tension!

Story of Poison, A  

See episode: “Neill Cream”. (Same script re-recorded with different actors.)

Strange Death of Gordon Fitzroy, The   B

When Gordy Fitzroy inherits a jewelry store from his uncle, he and his pal Johnny decide to fake a burglary, take the jewels and the insurance. When the safe makes a bigger bang than expected, Johnny loses his face… and does three and a half years after Gordy lets him take the fall alone. Gordy takes Johnny’s sweetheart Fran to boot. Johnny decides to blow Gordy’s apartment to even the score, but the timer malfunctions. Like a Memorable Twilight Zone episode, the doctors get a little mixed up between the corpse and the disfigured body they find in the wreckage.

Subway   C

An actress meets a “friend” on the commute home. Ruth rubs in how she is acting and Paula is not. It would be easy to kill Ruth with the scissors in her purse, easy to push her onto the tracks and take her job… so Paula invites Ruth to dinner. After a tension-filled ride where she plans and commits to murder, a newspaper headline changes Paula’s mind.

Subway Stop   D

A guy gets drunk with his friends and they almost get in a street fight in the wee hours. Later, in the subway men’s room, two of the kids come back and jump him, leaving him beaten horribly on the floor. As the man tries to get help, everyone jeers and calls him a drunken bum. The end. This is an exercise in loathing and despair. After listening I despised humanity for days. Avoid this episode, it is raw suffering.

Summer Night   A

(Ida Lupino) Anna invites her estranged friend over, vengefully reminiscing about how she stole her man while a lipstick killer is on the loose! Helen doesn’t see it coming when they flee the house in fear of an intruder. “Isn’t this where that girl’s body was found?” Is she the killer? An odd coincidence, Charles, the man in question, (and Helen’s ‘ex’ now,) just happens to be walking alone at night on that very trail. Anna invites him home to learn the story of why they divorced. Apparently she had him… “committed is the word.” [Adapted from Ray Bradbury]

Swift Rise of Eddie Albright, The   C

Cowardly Eddie is an elevator man, but brags to Millie the manicurist he has a crush on that he’s the boss. One day a couple thugs bring a body wrapped up in a carpet down from the penthouse. When Millie goes up to give her (ex-)client a manicure, Eddie is mistaken for the dead man, and bullets fly! He ends up the boss!

Ten Grand, The   C

(Lucille Ball) Crime. When a man returns a snatched purse, the owner discovers it now holds a large money roll. She follows a note to get off at the next subway station but the whistler she is told to meet is himself followed by two thugs… or are they police? What’s the scam? Is it a setup? She must decide if her handsome “Sir Galahad” a hero or a criminal!

Ten Years, The   A

When sisters Clara and Adelle lose their mother, they promise never to leave one-another’s side… until a man steals Clara away. Ten years later, Clara’s son finally meets his crazed Aunt Adelle.

Terribly Strange Bed , The   C

A wealthy man goes slumming at a casino, then is led to a seedy hotel room with his winnings. He is spied on… then his bed tries to kill him! (A rigged bed as seen in 13 Ghosts and Madhouse, etc.)[Adapted from Wilkie Collins, “The Traveler’s Story of a Terribly Strange Bed” (1852)]

That Real Crazy Infinity B

A couple of musicians need some cash for bus fare back to New York. They agree to deliver some electronic equipment to some cooky hermit… but discover he’s a scientist and a classical music freak who has invented an “Infiniphone,” that can capture sounds from any era! The groovy guys start recording jazz greats in concert, but one of them decides that rather than sell the recordings, he’ll instead join the doctor in traveling to the past in his new Infini-transitor! The beat slang is like, flipped out, man!

Thing in the Window, The   C

An actor sees the silhouette of a dead man in a wing-back chair across the road. The police find nothing, and he learns of a history of suicide and murder in the apartment… but no one else can see it! He harasses the old ladies who live there until they leave, but it wasn’t a ruse to get their apartment. It was a plot for revenge! A distinguished colleague now plays his part from a chair.

Thirteenth Sound , The   C

(Agnes Moorehead) A woman kills her husband because he didn’t care for high society. As he dies, his fingernails scrape the stucco. Soon she finds herself surrounded by screeching noises that resemble his nails. An obnoxious episode.

Three Faces For Midnight   B

A mug looking for a job falls into a setup. Sylvester is a voice ringer for John, who’s already been offed, so he poses as the point man that will hand over $200 Grand to a criminal blackmailing Governor Wyeth. He joins a female photographer named Helen and Tim, an undercover agent, in obtaining evidence of the payoff. When Tim and the blackmailer kill each other in a shootout, Helen and “Muscles” are stuck with the cash! When the cops catch up with them, they blame Sylvester for both deaths! But Sylvester forgot one thing!

So there we are, just sittin’ and waitin’ in a house that looks like somethin’ Boris Karloff moved out of because it made him nervous…

Three Lethal Words   B

(Joan Crawford) You might guess the words are “I love you,” but they aren’t. A woman visits an old friend who has now risen to head of the story department at a big movie company with an idea for a script. She goes into clear detail, losing herself in the story of a woman dumped for her age, a woman who commits herself to vengeance… by throwing nitric acid on her ex husband’s face! She starts gesturing wildly with the glass jar she carried into the office, and calls Mr. Lewis by her character’s name! It’s unclear whether the head of the story department was involved with Jane before, but she did mention him criticizing her scripts in the old days. This one is all Joan, and it’s an incredible performance.

Three O’Clock   A

A man plots the demise of his wife when he grows suspicious of an affair. He builds a fertilizer bomb in the cellar and sets the timer for 3:00, but then gets jumped by robbers… who tie him up in the basement! All kinds of situations, one after another, bring him close to being saved but nobody finds him! The ending is perfect. [Adapted from William Irish (Cornell Woolrich)]

‘Till Death Do Us Part   B

(Peter Lorre) When a music professor’s wife has her head turned by an American, the accordionist decides to end the affair permanently. With Poison (aconite, in fact, or monkshood). But booze isn’t his wife’s main vice, so… who drank the tainted hot-toddy? And who was that bump in the closet?

To Find Help   B

Just after the war, a hired hand 4-F’d for mental issues kills a woman’s dog. He locks her in the closet with its carcass, then finishes mopping the floor. Will she get a message to the milkman, or end up trapped with no phone, no car, and a small-framed homicidal lunatic with very strong hands in the house? [Also a movie starring Ida Lupino: Beware, My Lovely based on a short story by Mel Dinelli and adapted to the stage as “The Man”.
Version One: Frank Sinatra and Agnes Moorehead (1945),
Version Two (recommended): Gene Kelly and Ethel Barrymore (1949).

Too Hot to Live   B

(Richard Widmark) Crime. A drifter is framed for the murder of a waitress when he stops in a small town to get his shoes repaired. The jealous man who discovered the grisly scene can prove himself innocent, so he claims. How can the drifter prove he didn’t do it… when he was blacked out drunk at the time?

Too Perfect Alibi   B

(Danny Kaye) Wealthy, kind-hearted Sam Rogers agrees to be the best man at the wedding of the woman he loves and another man. Jack Stewart gets upset when Sam outdoes him by gifting the couple a home. Sam plans to murder Jack and win back Catherine, but he’ll need a solid alibi. He has Jack meet him in secret and kills him while he skips out on a party where he had spoken to everyone. He even admits his motive to the police when they find the body. But they won’t convict him. Not when he and Catherine had just been in a heated argument… She’ll be the one who gets the chair!

Track of The Cat, The   C

(Richard Widmark) Richard Widmark is given the spotlight for this one and carries it off; unfortunately he spends most of the episode shouting into the microphone. An overbearing jerk of a rancher forces his brother to come with him on a mountain lion hunt, disregarding the warnings of the Native American who lives with them. The old Indian’s superstitious tales tell of a black panther who roams at the first snow. And that’s just what seems to be killing cattle.Something with big cat prints also kills Curt’s brother. Soon the rancher finds himself alone in a blizzard with no ammunition, being hunted himself. The ending comes straight out of the comic book formula. [Adapted from Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Also a movie with Robert Mitchum]

Trap, The   A

(Agnes Moorehead) Someone is living in a woman’s house… or did she herself order the luggage and vacation ticket? At the end it is revealed. Locked in an asylum, a wronged sister has plotted the perfect revenge!

Treasure Chest of Don Jose, The &nbpsp; B

(Raymond Burr) A guy with a treasure map finds a chest of gold doubloons, but before he can get it out of the hole he dug, some kidnappers dump a body in it! Does that deter him? No! But the killers come back for the body… and take the booty! But the curse of Don Jose takes them!

Twist, The   B

Gus and Van are variety show writers who meet in a cab. Van can come up with a gag for any situation, while Gus has a million plots. They make a perfect team, though they hate each others’ guts. They couldn’t go solo even when they tried. Then Van meets a woman. But Gus comes up with a “situation” that involves Julie becoming their secretary to take dictation… Until the final setup where he does away with her. It’s a good scheme, but he forgets the lines he already used in that old script.

Two Sharp Knives   C

(John Payne) The police chief of a small town apprehends a wanted man as he disembarks from the 2:11. The guy says he’s innocent, but the police received a circular from a detective agency that Lester Furman is wanted for murder. When Furman kills himself in the cell the heat is on. Turns out the circular was a forgery… and his death was a murder! We learn Furman’s wife disappeared after the death of their child, but she’s still his beneficiary… of about a half million, and guess who shows up at the station. Could she be the killer? Who forged the wanted circular? Another novel abridged into a half hour episode. [By Dashiell Hammett]

Vamp Till Dead &nbpsp; B

(Ginger Rogers) Paul Gentry, an author, hires a new secretary to take dictation who oddly looks just like now deceased Mrs. Gentry, her predecessor. People around there say he killed Isabel. Paul starts to call Amy by his wife’s name and his writing declines. Amy starts playing that same disturbing piece of music. Has Isabel been reincarnated? No! She’s Isabel’s sister, determined to drive him to confess to murder!

Vision of Death, A   B

Mental Telepathy! The psychic act of Judd Stone and his wife Aurora has a gimmick, but one night Aurora starts mind reading before Judd can feed her the queues! She tells him of a vision of their agent murdering her, so Judd buys a gun… then he overhears ‘Rory and Harry plotting to frame him for murder– a setup! Will the gun misfire when Judd shoots Harry as planned, or will Judd have his own plan before midnight? Judd slings some nice banter. A fun episode.

Week Ago Wednesday, A   C

A woman has a “dream” where she returns to her apartment to find another woman living there. The new tenant shows her a newspaper covering her murder. She becomes so afraid that the dream will come true she tries to kill her husband be fore he can give her the ice pick. Too bad she didn’t read the article closer.

Weekend Special: Death   C

(Agnes Moorehead) Crime noir. A woman gets trapped in a store during a robbery. Kind of reminds me of another Agnes Moorehead yarn about a phone call…

Well-Dressed Corpse, The   C

A self-made woman meets a man worthy of her ambition, but when he tells her he’s engaged, she is embarrassed by the press. Roy keeps saying he wants to be friends with Ruth and inviting her over. Same old tune, right, ladies? Ruth doesn’t appreciate being ripped open for the public to watch, so she shoots him in the heart, never reading the note he left for her. His… confession. She runs, but can’t outrun herself. It finally comes out that she was never educated at Stanford or Columbia, but raised in Hell’s Kitchen, where she ultimately met her downfall.

Wet Saturday   A

(Boris Karloff) Millicent kills a man who proposes marriage to another and her family plots to cover for her. When a neighbor drops by, a turn of strategy is met by a grimly agreeable alternate strategy.
[Adapted from John Collier] [Also by: Alfred Hitchcock Presents]

Where There’s A Will   C

(James Mason) Ingratiating himself to his wealthy aunt, Charles Ridgeway decides the best way out of deep debt is through his inheritance. But he can’t wait for the old lady to kick off; he’s only got four weeks. He brings Aunt Mary a radio and pretends to be the spirit of her ex-husband Patrick. He says he’s coming for her, striking at Mary’s weak heart. While her will is in her hand. Near the fireplace.

Whole Town’s Sleeping, The   B

(Agnes Moorehead)Two women find a friend’s body in the ravine, but are determined to take their minds off it by going to the movies. When one walks home alone, she fears the “Lonely One” may be following. Way creepier than the Bradbury 13 version! [Adapted from Ray Bradbury]

Win, Place, and Murder   B

Chris Draper, a private detective, comes to the aid of his girlfriend who has opened her own agency across the hall (to convince him to marry her). A bookie has been shot and Draper’s the prime suspect after attempting to place some ill-timed bets of his own. Mike Virago, the bookie’s hired thug, says it was a guy named Frank Pilson …who happens to be across the hall snookering Laura Lee into a deadly pickup! A quick and fun story; better than many detective show episodes! [Adapted from a story by Emile C. Tepperman]

Win, Place, or Die   B

Crime Noir. An accountant plays the ponies, but keeps losing bets, so he places a few in his employer’s name. This guy is a real jerk, playing the wife and kids he abandoned for an alibi. Joe then kills his employer, thus framing his book-maker’s powerful boss who had required payment by Friday. When Joe returns to work to make sure the books are cooked for the audit on Monday, the bookie’s enforcer knows right where to find him. The story ends with the first punch …from a guy who had bet his life.

X-Ray Camera   B

A jerk wants revenge: if he can’t have his woman, no one will have her! He dupes a kind-hearted woman into believing he’s a secret agent and the box he rigged with a grenade is an X-ray camera. She’s got to get a close-up photo of a diamond thief (who is the woman that dumped him,) to assist with the sting. Just pull the string to open the shutter!

Yellow Wallpaper , The   B

(Agnes Moorehead) A woman suffering post-partum depression goes to the country to recover and sees women in the wallpaper! She becomes the figure trying to escape the wallpaper. Vague statement on women and contemporary attitudes toward mental health. [Adapted from Charlotte Perkins Gilman]

You Can Die Laughing   (1943)B

An abusive wise ass gets his when just before he gets one of his pranks shown on the 1961 version of Jackass, his wife and her lover kill him and bury him in the cellar of his haunted house. The prank? He’s buried ten grand in an isolated old house rigged for rattling chains and ghostly wails for four couples to locate. That he buried. In the basement. (Not to be confused with Inner Sanctum‘s “You Could Die Laughing”.)

You Can’t Die Twice   (1949)B

(Edward G. Robinson) Crime Noir. When Sam is mistakenly declared dead, his wife claims the Double Indemnity insurance policy while he skips town. It takes so long to process, he begins to worry she’s two-timing him. He gets drunk and flaps his gums to a femme fatale who runs off with the money, leaving him a murder rap… for his wife! [Similar to Inner Sanctum’s “Beneficiary: Death”]

You Take Ballistics   B

(Jack Webb) Hard-boiled noir. The police take a man into custody for murdering Eddie Lombard, a bookie who welched on a gambling debt. Suspect Clarence Coleman is real cocky, has answers for everything. They find a .38 , recently fired, in Coleman’s room. He fired it into the floor, he says, and they even find the slug. But then the bullet analysis comes back from the dead body: it’s a .32… but the police lieutenant believes more in human nature than the science of ballistics. Lieutenant Harvey’s right not to give up on the pinch because he finds some key evidence in Coleman’s suit pocket that explains how he did it. (Written by Cornell Woolrich)

You’ll Never See Me Again   B

After a woman walks out on her husband, she vanishes! He can’t find her, even at her parent’s house. Her dad tips off the cops, who indulge the innocent-seeming man in searching her folks’ house because there was something off. They find Mom inside the wall, dead! Then who’s locked in the closet pretending to be the mother-in-law? They rush back to the house where the cops found the wife’s purse and suit in the basement boiler furnace! [Written by Cornell Woolrich]

Zero Hour   B

Neighborhood children have a new game called “Invasion” that is sweeping the nation… They pretend to assist aliens in conquering the world! Don’t try to hide in the attic. [Adapted from Ray Bradbury, Also by: Escape and by Dimension X]