Suspense - The Hitchhiker


(5 stars; 4 reviews)

Suspense episode

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

Reviews

The Hitch Hiker


(5 stars)

From Wikipedia: "A... notable early episode [of "Suspense"]was Lucille Fletcher's "The Hitch Hiker," in which a motorist (Orson Welles) is stalked on a cross-country trip by a nondescript man who keeps appearing on the side of the road. This episode originally aired on September 2, 1942, and was later adapted for television by Rod Serling as a 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone." BTW, Lucille Fletcher was married to Bernard Herrmann from 1939 - 1948. Herrmann wrote the theme music for "Suspense" and also composed & conducted the score for tonight's episode. It's interesting that we hear "Funeral March for a Marionette" by Gounod playing in the background during Welles' introduction. Herrmann would use the piece again as the theme for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" on television thirteen years later. Much of Herrmann's greatest film compositions were for Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. "The Hitch Hiker" (1942) - Excellent radio drama! (Some minor audio distortion is heard.)

Theater of the Mind


(5 stars)

When I was a kid, my grandma gave me some cassette tapes of old time radio dramas. This episode was one of them. It was billed as the best drama episode that ever aired. I don't doubt that claim.

The Hitchiker


(5 stars)

Adapted into the iconic Twilight Zone episode of the same name. The main differences is that the protagonist is a women, Nan Adams, different from the male protagonist in the radio drama. Ron Adams. The story is the same