Subtitled the "outstanding theater of thrills" this CBS anthology was originally, like so much old time drama, born from the radio. Running from 1942-1962 Suspense was a recurring weekly broadcast that for half an hour sought to hook the viewer into a murky world of mystery.
The original audition show (radio equivalent of a pilot) was interestingly enough directed by Alfred Hitchcock and taken from a short story he had filmed some years earlier. Save for a couple of forays into science fiction and other fantasy, such as an adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror, episodes were stand alone and were grounded in the real world.
The television series, which began in 1949, coincided with the arrival of Elliot Lewis who took over as producer (he can be seen accepting an award during the intermission for the episode titled "Pier 17") and the series took on a renewed air of sophistication with more emphasis placed on production values and utilizing his considerable connections to land higher profile names (including Orsen Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda and Cary Grant).
For the most part the television series was sadly never graced with such talent, although the series did provide an occasional paycheck to then largely unknown actors the likes of Leslie Nielson, Paul Newman, Anne Bancroft, Rod Steiger, and Jack Lemmon to name but a few.
Formula dictated that stories feature everyday common folk suddenly cast into unexpected or dangerous situations. There were no bait and switch plots or convoluted twists and turns such as today, and it was a straightforward exercise in linear, A to B to C storytelling where at the end the evildoer is punished and all is once more right with the world.
This third volume of three, each of which contains thirty of the ninety surviving episodes in no discernable order, is a broad scattershot of old time entertainment on a shoestring budget. Each episode opens with a tiny model of a vaudevillian stage where the little curtains are pulled apart by string and a voice echos "AND NOW...SUSPENSE..." accompanied by some ominous organ music. Production values are characteristically haphazard with actors occasionally tripping over their lines (and in some case each other) and the camera adjusting on the fly to compensate for actors frequently failing to hit their mark. Exteriors are underexposed and grainy, interiors frequently burn too brightly.
The scripts and storylines are everything you would expect from 1940s melodrama with men being men and women being either delicate flowers in need of protection or scheming harlots that have to be punished. Plots are wide ranging with devices such as: kidnapping, murder, conspiracy, scheming spouses, meddlesome mobsters, battling union boys, old time boy racers, etc. The list is endless. Sadly, for the most part, Suspense is maddeningly straightforward and at times just a Great Dane away from being Scooby-Doo. Often the villain, handcuffed and foiled, will turn and ask "how did you know?" at which point the mechanics are laid bare for anyone who might have somehow tuned out at the crucial moment.
For a series designed around escalating tension, the catastrophic death nail comes in the form of the customary word from our sponsor (at this point aerospace and automotive company Autolite), which sadly is less a word than it is a full-blown infomercial. The episode would be interrupted mid flow, sometimes for upwards of seven minutes, for a clean cut looking gentleman to talk to you in staggering detail about car engine components (mostly spark plugs) always ending with the tagline "From bumper to tail light, you're always right with Autolite" at which point any hope of sustained momentum just disappears.
It's not that there is anything wrong with Suspense as a snapshot of a time, a place and a style of storytelling; but given that it originates in the middle of the golden age of noir, the richer and more complex examples of drama from this time render Suspense as a journey for die hard period fans only.
DVD Bonus Features
No extras included.
"Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection 3" is on sale March 17, 2009 and is rated NR. Television. Directed by Various. Written by Various (anthology). Starring Various.
