CTVA US Anthology - "Suspense" (CBS) Season 2 (1949-50)

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 Season 2 (CBS) (1949-50)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:  Rina Fox  [Updated May 2019]
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive


################### Suspense #################
############## season 2 1949-50 ##############
##############################################
 
CBS Tuesdays 9:30-10:00pm Eastern


2.01 [17] Suspense: LUNCH BOX
06Sep1949 CBS Tue [Paley Center]
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Turner Bullock & Frank Gabrielson / Story by Larry Marcus
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Lon McCallister
Abe Vigoda
Edgar Stehli
Lawrence Fletcher
John McGovern
Synopsis:
A man plants a bomb in his son's lunch box at work and tells him to get out in time,
but a friend thinking he has forgotten his lunch box places it in his car.

2.02 [18] Suspense: COLLECTOR'S ITEM
13Sep1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Doris Frankel, Turner Bullock and Frank Gabrielson / Story by Robert Stevens
Settings by Gilbert Hancox
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Lon McCallister .... Freddie
Bernard Kates ....... Marty
Anne Thomas ........... Millie
Julian Noa ............... Mr. Brockman
King Calder ............. Tony
Al Ramsen ............... Joe
Adelaide Klein ......... Mrs. Broder
Charles Mendick ........ Clerk
Synopsis:
Brockman Be-bop Alley record store clerk Freddie has a customer (Mr. Evans)
who asks him for help at the Griffin Hotel in room 317. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYx7q_wT6q0


2.03 [19] Suspense: DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
20Sep1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Halsted Welles / Story by Robert Louis Stevenson
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Ralph Bell ....... Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde
*Note: Restaged on 06Mar1951.

2.04 [20] Suspense: THE COMIC STRIP MURDER
29Sep1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Turner Bullock & Frank Gabrielson / From an original play by Fred Methot
Settings Gil Hancox
Cartoons Dick Ayers
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Lilli Palmer ..... Julia
Don Briggs ....... Mark
Eva Marie Saint .. Francie
King Calder ...... Handley
John Hudson ...... John
Henry Lascoe ..... Waiter
Synopsis:
A housewife, whose husband uses her likeness as one of the characters in his detective comic strip, believes her spouse
is planning her death when he decides to kill the character in the strip.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_204ComicStripMurder.html


2.05 [21] Suspense: DOCTOR VIOLET
04Oct1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Written by Halstead Welles
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Hume Cronyn ...... Dr. Violet
Evelyn Varden .... Mrs. Violet
Anne Francis ..... Lois
Ray Walston ...... Mousey
Frank Thomas Jr... Art
Jack Overman ..... Detective
Mike Kellin ...... Johnny the Policeman
Flody Buckley .... Texan
Synopsis:
A young, engaged couple wandering the carnival enters a sideshow that displays wax figures of famous killers and their crimes.
Dr. Violet, the tour guide, is particularly fond of the final wax figure - a man who murders young women who are about to be married.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_205DrViolet.html


2.06 [22]Suspense: THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
11Oct1949 CBS Tue
Produced & directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Halsted Welles / Based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe
Music Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Bela Lugosi ...... General Fortunato
Romney Brent ..... Count Montressor
Ray Walston ...... Army Sergeant
Frank Marth ....... Major
Synopsis:
Montressor vows revenge against Fortunato who has repeatedly injured and insulted him. Fortunato is unaware of the animosity
which Montresor has against him and so during carnival time the plot unfolds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUPBiyHbAFc


2.07 [23]Suspense: THE SERPENT RING
18Oct1949 CBS Tue
Adapted for television by John Gearon / Story by Louis Pollock
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Ray Walston
Steven Hill
Royal Dano
Joan Wetmore
Peter Von Zerneck
Donald Buka

2.08 [24] Suspense: THE MURDERER
25Oct1949 CBS Tue (on film)
Produced & directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Joseph Hayes / Based on a story by Joel Townsley Rogers
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Jeffrey Lynn ..... John Bantreagh
John McQuade ..... Roy Clade
Larry Fletcher ... Frank
Eileen Heckart ... Mollie
Marilyn Erskine .. Lillybelle
Don Hanmer ....... Mac
Synopsis:
A man finds his wife lying dead on his front lawn after being bludgeoned with a tire iron. She had been cheating on him for some time,
and was leaving him. As he is bending over her, thinking of past events, a policeman pulls up behind him.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_208TheMurderer.html


2.09 [25] Suspense: BLACK PASSAGE
01Nov1949 CBS Tue
Produced & directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Halsted Welles / From a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Stella Adler ..... Lola
William Prince ... Cunningham
Mary Sinclair .... Mother
Mort Stevens ..... Padre
Peter Fernandez .. Miguel
Carlos Montalban . Pedro
Synopsis:
A priest guides a traveler to a local inn but warns him that the inn is run by a very odd family.
The priest also warns him that he should remain in his room and not venture out until morning.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_209BlackPassage.html


2.10 [26] Suspense: SUSPICION
08Nov1949 CBS Tue
Written by Joseph Liss
Story by Billy Rose
starring
Edgar Stehli
Russell Collins
Charlton Heston
Meg Mundy
*Note: Restaged from Season 1 episode of the same name different cast.

2.11 [27] Suspense: THE THIN EDGE OF VIOLENCE
15Nov1949 CBS Tue
Story by William O'Farrell
starring
George Reeves
Lénore Aubert
Emily Lawrence

2.12 [28] Suspense: THE THIRD ONE
22Nov1949 CBS Tue
Produced and directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay & story by Arthur Heinemann
Settings Don Gilman
Music Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Margaret Phillips.. Grace
Theodore Newton ... Robert
Iris Mann ......... Jane
Martin Balsam ..... Officer Sam Abramson
Henry Lascoe ...... Detective Lt. Urey
Frieda Altman ..... Mrs. Sheperone
Joey Walsh ........ Michael Patrick Dennis (as Joseph Walsh)
Bobby Rick ........ Jackie Sheperone
Laura Weber ....... Little Girl
John Martone ...... Intern
Synopsis:
A couple go on vacation with their daughter unaware that the health department is urgently seeking the child
because she was bitten by a rabid dog and was afraid to tell her parents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBvFsF7rtWs

*Note: This was Martin Balsam's TV debut.

2.13 [29] Suspense: MAN IN THE HOUSE
29Nov1949 CBS Tue
Produced and directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Joseph Liss / Based on the radio play by Leslie Edgby
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Kim Hunter ....... Emily
Alan Baxter ...... The Intruder
Boyd Crawford .... Ted
Ruth McDevitt .... Mrs. Barret
Jay Eastman ...... Teen in library
Lores Lambert .... Teen in library
Joan Lawrence .... Teen in library
Synopsis:
A young married couple has problems because the wife is living separately with her elderly mother.
The situation becomes even more strained when a killer on the lam forces his way into her home.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_213ManintheHouse.html


2.14 [30] Suspense: THE SCAR
06Dec1949 CBS Tue
Produced and directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Shirl Hendryx / Story by H.R. Hays
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Edgar Stehli
Ralph Bell

2.15 [31] Suspense: THE GREY HELMET
13Dec1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Halsted Welles / Story by Robert Carse
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Jack Lemmon
Bernard Kates
Mort Stevens
Roberta Haines
Joseph Norocki
Synopsis:
A dramatic story of the Black Hand's operations
in New York's Little Italy during the 1890's.

2.16 [32] Suspense: THE SEEKER AND THE SOUGHT
20Dec1949 CBS Tue
27Dec1949 [Long Beach Independent]
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Halsted Welles / Story by Marie Baumer
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Eileen Heckart
Joseph Holland
Philip Loeb
Grace Valentine
Ben Cooper
Synopsis:
An elderly man is in a desperate search for a youngster who
is in peril of passing evil's point of no return.

2.17 [33] Suspense: THE CASE OF LADY SANNOX
27Dec1949 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Robert Wallsten / From a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Stella Adler .......... Lady Sannox
Henry Brandon ..... Dr. Douglas Stone
Berry Kroeger ...... Lord Sannox
.... Inspector Thomas
.... Stevens
Synopsis:
Dr. Douglas Stone flaunts his notorious affair with Lady Sannox, although his professional reputation begins to suffer
it isn't until the mysterious Turk arrives on scene that things begin to go terribly wrong.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_217LadySannox.html


2.18 [34] Suspense: MORNING BOAT TO AFRICA
03Jan1950 CBS Tue
10Jan1950 [Long Beach Press Telegram]
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Nina Foch
King Calder
Jerome Thor
Synopsis:
A wayward wife of a jealous husband brings trouble home.

2.19 [35] Suspense: THE BOMBER COMMAND
10Jan1950 CBS Tue
17Jan1950 [Long Beach Independent]
Produced and Directed by Robert Stevens
Written by Halsted Welles / From an idea by Robert Stevens
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
George Reeves .... D.P. Bradford
Susan Douglas .... Zita Bradford
Laura Webber .... Susan
Joseph Holland .... Hans
Edward S. Bryce ..... George
Robert Gallagher ...... Andy
Synopsis:
The story tells of the 1950 reunion of three members of a wartime bomber
crew and their unified action when the daughter of one of them is kidnapped.
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_219BomberCommand.html


2.20 [36] Suspense: SUMMER STORM
17Jan1950 CBS Tue
Produced and Directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Marie Baumer / Based on a story by Louis Este
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
E.G. Marshall .... Eddie Hunt
Jack Dimond ...... Jimmy Hunt
Morton Stevens ... Mr. O'Farrell
King Calder ...... Mr. Waters
Ruth McDevitt .... Mrs. Waters
Royal Dano ....... Policeman
Joe Boland ....... Mr. Graham
Leslie Litomy .... Casey
Martin Greenlee .. Mike
Synopsis:
A father and son moving out of a boarding house get into a tussle with the landlord who drops dead.
The father who has a record, decides to hide the body in the attic..
http://www.solie.org/alibrary/Suspense_220SummerStorm.html


2.21 [37] Suspense: THE HORIZONTAL MAN
224Jan1950 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Based on the story by Helen Eustis (published in 1946)
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Mildred Natwick
Mary Sinclair
Synopsis:
The murder of a Professor, has undergraduate Kate investigating the case
with help from a newspaper reporter.

2.22 [38] Suspense: THE DISTANT ISLAND
31Jan1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Sylvia Berger / From a short story by Wilbur Daniel Steele
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
William Redfield
Ruth McDevitt
Patricia Kirkland
Nancy Carroll
Synopsis:
The story of an amnesia victim and what happens when he regains his memory.

2.23 [39] Suspense: ESCAPE THIS NIGHT
07Feb1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Halsted Wells
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Donald Buka
Peter Capell
Robert H. Harris

2.24 [40] Suspense: THE SUICIDE CLUB
14Feb1950 CBS Tue
Produced and Directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Reginald Denham & Mary Orr / Based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson
Music Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Ralph Bell ......... Prince Florizel/Theophilus Goode
Ralph Clanton .... Col. Gerard/Alfred Hammersmith
Donald Buka ...... Mr. X
Richard Fraser ... Club President
Synopsis:
Drinking to the death of boredom, Prince Florizel undertakes a false identity in search
of adventure. At the Oyster Bar, they meet Mr. X who invites them to the Suicide Club.
Synopsis 2:
Story of a club for men who wish to die. One member draws a card bearing the ace of
spades and he is assigned to kill a fellow member in such a way that it seems an accident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peF4KZEl2yQ


2.25 [41] Suspense: ROMAN HOLIDAY
21Feb1950 CBS Tue
starring
Leslie Nielsen
Jack Dimond

2.26 [42] Suspense: THE MAN WHO TALKED IN HIS SLEEP
28Feb1950 CBS Tue
Producer John Peyser
Written by Marie Baumer
Directed by John Peyser
Music Hank Sylvern
Settings Al Ostrander
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Donald Briggs .... Henry Lord
Edith Atwater .... Louise Lord
Ben Cooper ....... Jerry
Peter Griffith ... Joe Murphy
Elmer Lehr ....... Mr. Clark
Synopsis:
Jerry wants to play a prank on Henry, his mother's boyfriend for not loaning him the car. He decides to say that he
was talking in his sleep and he knows his deep dark secret and he won't tell his mother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7XkoyTDfPE

*Note: In the first scene Edith Atwater is called Miss Elliott by Joe friend of her sons Jerry.

2.27 [43]Suspense: THE LEDGE
07Mar1950 CBS Tue
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Dick Foran
E.G. Marshall
Eileen Heckart
King Calder
Harold Stone
Russell Collins

2.28 [44] Suspense: THE PARCEL
14Mar1950 CBS Tue
Produced and Directed by Robert Stevens
Original script by Alvin Sapinsley (idea from Robert Stevens)
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Conrad Janis ..... Tommy
Ray Walston ...... Herbert the Hook
Ann Thomas ....... Sally
Royal Dano ....... Marvin the Push
Lee Marvin ....... Barrow
Harold J. Stone .. Eagle Moran
Peter Capell ..... Gunner
Synopsis:
Tommy is an errand boy who hangs around a hot dog stand and winds up being hired by a shady character to deliver a package at exactly 5pm.
Tommy decides to kill time going to a ball game, he doesn't realize that the package contains 20 grand from a payroll heist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJRNjXS_Wtk


2.29 [45] Suspense: MY OLD MAN'S BADGE
21Mar1950 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Original script by Ferguson Findley & Robert Tallman
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Steven Hill ...... Dolph Romano
Barry Nelson ..... Johny Malone
Will Hare ........ Tony Grisalla
Charles Mendick .. Herman
Philip Sterling .. Ciro
Ann Thomas ....... Billie
Julian Noa ....... Captain
Synopsis:
A rookie cop decides to take a vacation from the force to find his father's murderer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cee3idGgiU


2.30 [46] Suspense: THE SECOND CLASS PASSENGER
28Mar1950 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Based on a short story by Perceval Gordon (The Second Class Passenger and Other Stories (1913).
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Leslie Nielsen
Monica Boyer
Alfreda Wallace
Synopsis:
A man taking a cruise around the world finds second-class passengers are much more interesting
and by the time things become more complicated he wished that he'd missed the boat.

2.31 [47] Suspense: 1000 TO ONE
04Apr1950 CBS Tue
Producer Robert Stevens
Teleplay by Charles Robinson  From a story by Frank Gruber
Directed by Robert Stevens
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Paul Stewart ...... Sam Cragg
Betty Garde ....... Mamie Kelly
Robert H. Harris .. Peter Strokovitch
Cara Williams ..... Betty Marshall
Harold J. Stone ... Max Krelig
Anna Minot ........ Anna Krelig
Synopsis:
Private investigator gets a call from a new client and pays him a visit only to find him dead with a clue, a piece of paper with the name C.W. Roberts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzi0Dcz9Oo8

*Note: Title also known as One Thousand Dollars to One for Your Money.

2.32 [48] Suspense: STEELY, STEELY EYES
11Apr1950 CBS Tue
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Betty Garde ....... Ma Barker
Synopsis:
The drama records the evil machinations of Ma Barker and her four sons from their early days in
Missouri to Ma's violent end before FBI machine guns in Florida.
*Note: J. Edgar Hoover head of the G-Man described Ma Barker as "the most dangersou criminal I have ever encountered".

2.33 [49] Suspense: MURDER AT THE MARDI GRAS
18Apr1950 CBS Tue
Produced & directed by Robert Stevens
Written by Charles Robinson
From a story by Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Tom Drake ........... Dan Bedell
Mary Sinclair ...... Connie Williams
George Reeves ...... Bill Reed
Robert Emhardt ..... Morgan Nelson
Jack Klugman ......... Louie
John Marriott ........ Tom, room service clerk
Howard Wierum .... Policeman
Synopsis:
An actor goes to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and falls in love with Connie Williams.
Gambling boss Morgan Nelson warns Dan that Connie is in league with her friend Bill Reed
to blackmail Dan. When Nelson's bodyguard winds up dead, Dan begins to wonder if the warning is real.

2.34 [50] Suspense: THE GENTLEMAN FROM AMERICA
25Apr1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Halsted Welles / From a story by Michael Arlen
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Barry Nelson
Synopsis:
An American bets with his two London friends that he can stay overnight in a haunted house.

2.35 [51] Suspense: DEATH OF A DUMMY
02May1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Alvin Sapinsley
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Conrad Janis
Philip Loeb
Synopsis:
A young man on a scavenger hunt for a department store sales check stumbles into a murderer at midnight in the store.

2.36 [52] Suspense: RED WINE
09May1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Halsted Welles / From a story by L.G. Blochman
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Tom Drake
Hume Cronyn
Jean Gillespie
Alfred Hesse
Synopsis:
The FBI pursues a man to the wilds of Borneo.

2.37 [53] Suspense: ONE AND ONE'S A LONESOME
16May1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Nelson Sykes
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Robert Emhardt
Nina Foch
Scott McKay
Meg Mundy
Synopsis:
A predatory blond conspires with an old flame to murder her husband but tosses a neat double cross at the old flame.

2.38 [54] Suspense: PHOTO FINISH
23May1950 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Original television script by Alvin Sapinsley (idea by Robert Stevens)
Music by Hank Sylvern
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Ralph Clanton .... Robert Quartermain
Eileen Heckart ... Margaret Quartermain
Richard Boone .... Mercer
Don Appell ....... Willy Fergus
Lou Herbert ...... Mack
Synopsis:
A former medical examiner who falsified information in a murder trial returns to town. The lawyer involved
in the trial, kills the ex-medical examiner careful to leave no clues behind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neieetbph3I


2.39 [55] Suspense: LISTEN, LISTEN
30May1950 CBS Tue
Teleplay by Charles Robinson / From a story by R.E. Kendall
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Mildred Natwick
Synopsis:
Be silent, husband, that is the admonition of a wife to her husband when it comes to murder.
She tells her hubby to keep his big mouth shut and not tip the police off about a murder.

2.40 [56] Suspense: BLACK BRONZE
06Jun1950 CBS Tue
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Franchot Tone
Joan Diener

[--] Suspense: I'M NO HERO
13Jun1950
*postponed to following week.


2.41 [57] Suspense: I'M NO HERO
20Jun1950 CBS Tue
Based on a story by Henry Kane
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Hume Cronyn
Mark Roberts
Charlotte Keane
Jean Carson
Sandra Ann Wigginton

2.42 [58] Suspense: WISTERIA COTTAGE
27Jun1950 CBS Tue
Produced & Directed by Robert Stevens
Adapted for television by Charles Robinson / Based on a novel by Robert M. Coates
Music by Hank Sylvern
Settings by William Eckart
Narrator Rex Marshall
starring
Marjorie Gateson .... Florence Hackett
Conrad Janis ........... Richard
Joan Copeland ........ Louisa Hackett
Carlotta Sherwood .. Elinor Hackett
James MacDonald ... Jeff
Mark Roberts .......... Ned Bassett
Ruth McDevitt ......... Jenny
Synopsis:
A trouble man intrudes on a woman and her daughters at their summer cottage. Charming the mother into letting him stay with
them he goes after one of the daughters. When she rebuffs his advances his true colors begin to show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEuKglCVRGQ

*Note: Restaged on 17Jul1951.

 

################### Suspense #################
############### end of season 2 ##############
##############################################

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