Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio) - BONUS - Silver Bells, Silver Screen 2023

BONUS - Silver Bells, Silver Screen 2023

12/24/23 • 65 min

We close out 2023 with a break from radio thrillers. Instead, it's our annual showcase of a classic Christmas film recreated for radio. This year, it's one of the best as James Stewart and Donna read recreate their roles as George and Mary Bailey in a Lux Radio Theatre recreation of It's a Wonderful Life (originally aired on CBS on March 10, 1947).

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Episode 364 - Jack Kruschen

Jack Kruschen earned an Oscar nod for his performance as Jack Lemmon's kindly and concerned neighbor in The Apartment, but before that he was a busy and very versatile radio performer. With a knack for accents and dialects, it wasn't uncommon for Kruschen to play multiple roles in the same thirty minutes. We'll hear him as a gangster who prepares an explosive Christmas gift for a rival in "A Present for Benny" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1955). Then, he's a nightclub mind reader who tries to use his powers to find the man who killed his wife in "With Murder in Mind" (originally aired on CBS on June 24, 1962). Plus, as a holiday bonus, we'll hear an adaptation of "Back for Christmas" from Escape (originally aired on CBS on December 24, 1947).

Next Episode

Episode 365 - Lillian Gish

In addition to being an amazing actress, Lillian Gish pioneered the craft of film acting - the more nuanced performance choices that a camera could capture vs. the broad techniques designed to reach the back of a theatre. Her career stretched from the silent era all the way to the late 1980s, and along the way she starred in films made by D.W. Griffith and stared down Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter. We'll hear her in "Marry for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1943). Then, we'll hear her as a guest panelist in two episodes of Information Please (a partial recording of an episode from October 25, 1938 and another show from July 4, 1939).