Embedded Files
The "truly missing" Suspense -- missing episodes that were performed only once on the series
The "truly missing" Suspense -- missing episodes that were performed only once on the series
Scripts of one sort or another are available for each of the "truly missing" episodes. There has been great progress in recreating many of them. Only THREE "truly missing" episodes remain to be done:
1948-07-08 The Last Chance - the first Auto-Lite broadcast after the failed 60-minute broadcast experiment
1951-11-12 The Mission of the Betta - a WW2 drama about a secret submarine mission
1956-08-01 Massacre at Little Big Horn - a psychological drama about the night before the massacre of Custer's forces in late June 1876
(Some details about them can be found at a related blogpost [click here]).
Sadly, the missing 1942 and 1943 broadcast recordings are likely lost forever -- and there is a possibility they were not recorded at all. We may have scripts of the "truly missing" shows to enjoy as we read them, those scripts were written and broadcast to be heard.
There are four sources of recreations: American Radio Theater, Blue Hours Productions, Project Audion, and Sole Twin Audio. Each group has a great affection for radio drama, and take great pleasure in producing the scripts so they may be heard and enjoyed again. They have generously agreed to allow their recordings to be included in The Suspense Project collection at the Internet Archive. Links to those particular pages are at the bottom of this web page.
In recent years, YouTube has become a platform for making recreations widely available. Just click on the YouTube image if there is one, and the audio will play. Project Audion supplies video of the cast, dispersed around North America, as they act their parts and produce a mix of live and recorded sound effects, taking full advantage of the format.
1942-07-01 The Life of Nellie James
1942-07-01 The Life of Nellie James
Project Audion produced this recreation in 2024. The plot is based on the famous Lizzie Borden case of Fall River, Massachusetts, with its names changed. "A dreadful murder takes place in the Simon James home, and justice is done ...or is it?" The story is by Harold Medford and is the third episode of the series. The star of the broadcast was Jeanne Cagney, who replaced the originally cast Loretta Young.
Recordings may also be accessed at the Internet Archive
1942-07-08 Rope
1942-07-08 Rope
Rope is based on the Leopold-Loeb "thrill" murders of 1924, became a Broadway play by Patrick Hamilton in 1929 ("Rope's End"). It would become a Hitchcock film production starring Jimmy Stewart in 1948. The Hamilton play was adapted for Suspense by Harold Medford.
The audio can also be accessed at the Internet Archive (click here).
The audio can also be accessed at the Internet Archive (click here).
1942-07-15 Witness on the Westbound Limited
1942-07-15 Witness on the Westbound Limited
Project Audion produced this script in 2023. The Suspense production re-used a script by Harold Medford that was originally performed on Calling All Cars.
Recordings may also be accessed at the Internet Archive
1943-02-09 The Hangman Won't Wait
1943-02-09 The Hangman Won't Wait
The first half of the original broadcast has survived, but the complete program has not. There have been two recreations of this episode. Background about the original broadcast can be found at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/TSP430209
Hear the recreations at
American Radio Theater at the Internet Archive (click here)
Blue Hours Productions https://archive.org/details/TSPBHP
The script was used for the BBC's Appointment with Fear series as 1944-05-18 The Clock Strikes Eight for which a complete recording exists at the Internet Archive). That series used John Dickson Carr's scripts and the Suspense theme in its broadcasts at that time.
Newspaper clip via newspapers.com.
1943-02-23 Will You Walk into My Parlor?
1943-02-23 Will You Walk into My Parlor?
The first half of the original broadcast has survived, but the complete program has not. The episode has been recreated by American Radio Theater. Background about the original broadcast can be found at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/TSP430223
The recreation can be heard at the Internet Archive (click here)
The newspaper clip is from 1943-02-23 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette via newspapers.com.
1943-03-09 The Phantom Archer
1943-03-09 The Phantom Archer
Sole Twin Audio' recreation of this episode was produced in 2023. It was a John Dickson Carr script and originally starred Ralph Bellamy, Walter Hampden, Constance Collier, Muriel Kirkland, and Ted Osborne.
The audio can also be heard at the Internet Archive (click here)
1946-02-28 The Keenest Edge
1946-02-28 The Keenest Edge
This "truly missing" broadcast is written by Robert L. Richards. The original cast starred Richard Greene supported by Cathy Lewis and likely Joe Kearns.
The script was recreated by the American Radio Theater group in 2015; their production can be found at the Internet Archive (click here)
Project Audion produced their recreation in 2020. Recordings may also be accessed at the Internet Archive
Click here for video
Click here for audio only
NOTE: Grace Gibson Productions in Australia produced the script in the mid-1950s on their anthology series Tension. That recording is available directly from that organization.
1950-06-15 Deadline
1950-06-15 Deadline
Project Audion produced their recreation in 2025. Larry Groebe described it as "a powerhouse story of a newspaper editor whose fast-breaking stories about the Chicago underworld increase his paper's circulation beyond his wildest dreams... but which may also prove to be the stuff of nightmares." The original broadcast starred Broderick Crawford, supported by Joe Kearns, Jay Novello, Georgia Ellis, John Hoyt, and Tony Barrett.
Recordings may be accessed at the Internet Archive
1951-11-19 The Embezzler
1951-11-19 The Embezzler
This recreation by American Radio Theater may be heard at the Internet Archive (click here)
Newspaper clip via newspapers.com.
1956-01-03 The Eavesdropper (no longer missing!)
1956-01-03 The Eavesdropper (no longer missing!)
1956-01-03 The Eavesdropper was produced by Project Audion in 2022. The original episode is NO LONGER MISSING and can be heard at https://archive.org/details/TSP560103. That recording was found in 2023, a year after the recreation. The Project Audion production is unique. The group produced the entire script, ignoring cuts to the script that were made in 1956 for the sole purpose of staying within the exact network radio broadcast time allotment. This meant that the ending, where the plumber (played by Parley Baer in 1956) calls home, was not part of the broadcast. It actually makes for a better ending! Recreations don't have the tyranny of the clock and sponsors that network radio had to deal with.
Recordings may be accessed at the Internet Archive
Click here for video
The Suspense Project has published Internet Archive pages for each of the Recreators
The Suspense Project has published Internet Archive pages for each of the Recreators
American Radio Theater https://archive.org/details/TSPART and their website is www.americanradiotheater.org
Blue Hours Productions https://archive.org/details/TSPBHP
Project Audion https://archive.org/details/TSPPA and their website is https://projectaudion.com/
Sole Twin Audio https://archive.org/details/TSPSoleTwin
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