We are back in the Listener Library, this time exploring “A Country Road,” an episode of Suspense recommended to us by Donal. Many thanks, Donal! Cary Grant stars in this thriller about a married couple who take an ill-timed shortcut that leaves them stuck with a deranged killer on the loose. Is there any escape from their predicament? When the danger arrives, will their fears paralyze them? Do you love Cary Grant as mach as we do? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
Great episode and fun conversation about it. Glad to hear Joshua will be bringing “Mission Completed” to the show someday.
Two episodes that have stuck with me over the years are “Short Order” and “The Perfectionist.” Had them on tape back in the 90s and still like to revisit them every so often.
We have our episodes mapped out through episode 100, but expect “Mission Completed” to pop up shortly after that. There is a lot to talk about in that one. The other two you mentioned don’t sound immediately familiar. I’ll have to give them a listen.
I love it! I am an old soul, and I love the old things! I listen to Old Time Radio!
I listened to this Suspense episode for the first time a couple of weeks ago and loved it, so I was pleased to see it show up here. It’s the kind of plot that has become cliched over the years, but everything about this presentation is sharp and engaging.
Walter Bazar was a 23-year-old reporter for the New York Journal-American and this was his first and apparently only radio play. See this page:
http://cobaltclubannex.forumotion.com/t20p775-suspense-upgrades
Fascinating. Thanks for posting that. I wonder if Mr. Bazar knew (knows?) that his single contribution to dramatic radio is considered a classic?
Half an hour of platitudes and hysteria.
They were trapped as soon as they only thought of two twists, either she is or she isn’t. But there is a twist they could have done, which is that the woman in the backseat goes quiet for a while, but when they check on her, she is dead, because the killer was hiding in the back of their car the whole time.
I simply couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to enjoy this one. It’s an “idiot plot”: the type that only works if everyone in the story is an idiot. For a time, I thought that Cary Grant’s character had engineered the entire chain of events, and that the “crazy woman” would turn out to be related to him. That seemed the most plausible explanation for his non-stop series of denials and bad decisions. I get that he was an alpha male in the classic “won’t stop for directions” mode, but come on…the radio is only one step removed from saying, “You, Cary… Read more »