Suspense at the Movies (and TV)
A select few Suspense scripts went on to become movies, such as Sorry, Wrong Number. Others were adapted from novels and short stories that were presented on Suspense but became movies later. The popularity of Suspense and its emphasis on Hollywood stars was rare confluence of radio and motion pictures that is intriguing to this day.
Street of Chance (1942)
IMDb rates this movie 6.4/10. The movie appeared first but this Cornell Woolrich story would be adapted for Suspense as The Black Curtain. It was a favorite script of producer William Spier and was used as the inaugural Roma Wines broadcast on 1943-12-02 and then on 1944-11-30, both featuring Cary Grant. It was the first broadcast of the hour-long format on 1948-01-03 with Robert Montgomery.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035388
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_of_Chance_(1942_film)
There is a video with Spanish subtitles at archive.org https://archive.org/details/1942streetofchancelacalledelazarjackhively
The Brighton Strangler (1945)
IMDb rates this movie 6.3/10. Suspense broadcast its play in 1944-12-21, intended to promote this upcoming motion picture. The broadcast starred the movie's lead actors. The movie was still in production at the time of broadcast.
The movie is occasionally on YouTube but is removed shortly thereafter. It is not available at Internet Archive.
The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946)
IMDb rates this movie 6.5/10. This was a novel prior to its appearance on Suspense on 1944-06-29 starring Keenan Wynn.
The movie has been removed from YouTube many times. It has recently re-appeared (7/2023). It was released on DVD in 2014. New and used copies are available for purchase through Amazon.
It is also at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/5.0-the-walls-came-tumbling-down-lee-bowman-marguerite-chapman-jonathan-hale-lee-patrick-1946
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039094
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walls_Came_Tumbling_Down_(film)
Last Crooked Mile (1946)
IMDb rates this movie 6.8/10. This was originally broadcast on Suspense as One Way Ride to Nowhere with Alan Ladd on 1944-01-06.
The Chase (1946)
IMDb rates this movie 6.6/10. The Suspense episode was another Cornell Woolrich story, broadcast as Black Path of Fear with Brian Donlevy in 1944-08-31 and then 1946-03-07 with Cary Grant before it became a movie.
The Glass Alibi (1946)
IMDb rates this movie 6.5/10. This is an adaptation of I Had an Alibi. The full movie is not available on YouTube or at Internet Archive, but a DVD is available on Amazon.
Crossfire (1947)
IMDb rates this movie 7.3/10; RottenTomatoes rates it 81%. This movie is not available online, but can be purchased in DVD format or as a paid stream on Amazon Prime Video. This is an odd entry for this page because the Suspense adaptation came eight months after the picture's release, and starred the lead actors of the picture. The movie was controversial in its time because of the way it dealt with anti-Semitism. There was some reason to believe that this 60-minute script was diverted from Lux Radio Theatre to air as the final 60-minute Suspense. But deeper research indicated it was an original adaptation by Suspense veteran writer and editor Robert L. Richards, destined for Suspense from the first typewriter keystroke. The movie may be available at archive.org https://archive.org/details/crossfire-1947
Fear in the Night (1947)
IMDb rates this movie 6.4/10. This was presented on Suspense as Nightmare on 1948-03-13. One of the stars is DeForest Kelly of Star Trek fame. The movie is based on the story by Cornell Woolrich (published as William Irish), and was a movie before it became a Suspense play. (There was a different Suspense episode that used the same title on 1949-09-01 but was a different plot and different author).
It is also at archive.org https://archive.org/details/Fear_in_the_Night
The High Wall (1947)
IMDb rates this movie 6.9/10. This Bradbury Foote play was broadcast on Suspense on 1946-06-06 and starred Robert Young. MGM purchased the film rights at the end of 1946 and released the movie in December, 1947. The movie is not available for streaming on YouTube, but its trailer can be viewed there. The Foote play is built out from the original radio script and has additional subplots and other changes.
The movie can be viewed (with Portuguese subtitles) at The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/1947-high-wall-muro-de-tinieblas-curtis-bernhardt-vose
The Argyle Secrets (1948)
IMDb rates this movie 6.5/10. This was originally broadcast on Suspense as The Argyle Album on 1945-12-13 with Robert Taylor and then 1947-09-04 with Edmond O'Brien. The movie was made in eight days, and the flaws are often apparent. This was a B-movie and not a feature film, which explains some of its very low budget.
Pitfall (1948)
IMDb rates this movie 7.2/10; RottenTomatoes audience score is 70%. This movie is the Suspense tie-in that never happened but almost did. It's included in this web page because of the insight it provides into Suspense history. Papers of Robert Montgomery, hired to be a producer of Suspense in its 60-minute format, were shared with Suspense researcher John Scheinfeld in the 1970s. (Today, Scheinfeld is a highly regarded documentarian and has provided many of his research materials to us). Pitfall was targeted as a potential broadcast, likely near its August 1948 theatrical release, to generate some synergystic publicity for the movie and Suspense. The idea was scuttled when William Spier left Suspense in February 1948 and the 60-minute format was canceled in April 1948. Spier and Dick Powell worked together in the original Rogue's Gallery radio series when it was a summer 1945 replacement for Fitch Bandwagon (unfortunately, no recordings exist). Spier was asked to produce another season of Rogue's Gallery, but declined because of Suspense commitments and those of a new program, Sam Spade. They sought ways to collaborate in radio over the years, but could not find the right situation. Pitfall is another casualty of the ill-conceived hour-long Suspense format. Pitfall was adapted for the 1949-10-17 broadcast of Screen Director's Playhouse.
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
IMDb rates this movie 7.4/10; RottenTomatoes score is 86%. The full movie is not available online, but the trailer is. DVDs of the film can be found on Amazon for about $5. SWN was a massive box office hit and the most famous radio script to make it to the big screen. For more background, jump to our other page about SWN. The movie, which has additional plot elements to extend the original radio play to movie length, was adapted for Lux Radio Theatre. The movie may be available at archive.org at https://archive.org/details/sorry.-wrong.-number-1948
Beware, My Lovely (1952)
IMDb rates this movie 6.7/10. This was a play by Mel Dinelli, The Man. Before it hit the stage it was turned into a Suspense episode, To Find Help on 1945-01-18 with Frank Sinatra and then 1949-01-06 with Gene Kelly. The play The Man was highly successful in many cities around the US in the 1950s. Dinelli was a talented scripter, whose work was successful in the theater, radio, motion pictures, and television. (NOTE: The movie has erratic availability on YouTube, and is often removed. It was recently at this link https://youtu.be/-B_MoypVRoE It may also be at archive.org https://archive.org/details/bewaremylovely1952_202001
There does not seem to be a DVD release of the film at this time). An excellent intro from Turner Classic Movies is at https://youtu.be/W9Zpl5D0-28
Dangerous Crossing (1953)
IMDb rates this movie 7.1/10. This is an adaptation of John Dickson Carr's Cabin B-13 of 1943-03-16 (a missing episode) and 1943-11-09.
The film is at archive.org https://archive.org/details/dangerous-crossing-1953
The Big Bluff (1955)
IMDb rates this movie 5.8/10. This is an adaptation of I Had an Alibi, nine years after another adaptation, 1946's The Glass Alibi.
The movie is at archive.org https://archive.org/details/big_bluff
TV show: General Electric Theater "The Face is Familiar" with Jack Benny 1954-11-21
IMDb rates this broadcast 7.6/10. Supposedly CBS and Auto-Lite did not like this script for Suspense, but it was already too close to broadcast to cancel. Benny loved it so much he bought all the rights after the Suspense radio broadcast on 1954-01-18. Benny's company, "J and M" was the producer of many television shows besides his own comedy show, the highly successful General Electric Theater just one of them. This was the Season 3, Episode 9 installment. Benny was not the only actor to be in this presentation on radio and television. Suspense stalwart Joe Kearns played a cop in the radio play and plays the robbed teller in the television presentation. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0586299
TV show: Suspicion "Four O'Clock" 1957-09-30
IMDb rates this broadcast 7.6/10. Suspense performed its adaptation of this Woolrich title under its original name, Three O'Clock on 1949-03-10. This TV version was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was the first episode of the series. While this was not adapted from Suspense, this is here because Three O'Clock was one of the best Suspense episodes and it's interesting to see a TV adaptation that is well done. There are differences in the two treatments plotlines and outcomes. Three O'Clock was adapted for other television series but video is not available for those.
This is available on YouTube now and then. If it is removed, it is also at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/Suspicion_1_01_Four_O_clock