Tag Archives: William Spier

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 265 – Suspense: The Night Reveals

In 1934 at the height of the Great Depression, writer Cornell Woolrich decided to try to reinvent himself as a writer. He had spent most of the late twenties and early thirties attempting to be the next F. Scott Fitzgerald and he was getting nowhere despite a number of novels and short stories behind him some of which had a… (more…)

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 238 – Motive for Murder

A well-constructed radio play by veteran scripter E. Jack Neuman and based on a Pulp fiction piece by Ward and John Hawkins. A rare convergence of talented radio people in E. Jack Neuman, William Spier, Norman MacDonnell, Ward and John Hawkins make this a must listen. And a great performance by Alan Ladd and a veteran cast of radio actors.… (more…)

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 227 – The Adventures of Christopher London

A little heard series since only 3 episodes exist of actor Glenn Ford starring as detective for hire Christopher London. This was on the air briefly at the height of his popularity in film. The first episode of this short-lived series. Music under is Nicholas Payton with the theme from the film Chinatown.

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 153 – Drive-in

This week, one of most thrilling episodes, for me, from the series Suspense. The best radio drama is when the acting is top-notch, the sound effects are well-tuned to enhance the dialogue and the music is designed to increase tension and a sense of thrill. This happens when a good producer and director can pull it all together to positively… (more…)

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 150 – The ABC Murders

This time I present an example of taking an excellent fictional story and trying to squeeze it into a one half-hour suspense play. Agatha Christie’s story The ABC Murders is a fine Hercule Poirot mystery, but when handled by a normally excellent scriptwriter turning it into a radio drama, something has to give. The radio play as pure radio drama… (more…)

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 142 – “After Dinner Story”

This week a visit with Cornell Woolrich and the radio adaptation of his noirish horror story “After Dinner Story” as heard over the radio series Suspense. Woolrich was the master of creating tension out of the commonplace and while not completely faithful to the original story, this is still a very well done adaptation with script by Robert L. Richards.… (more…)