1354 SUSPENSE of the more memorable of these include Lucille Ball as a gold Hosts digger in "A Little Piece of Rope" (1948), Anne Baxter as a "The Man in Black" (1942 -43), Joseph Kearns or Ted struggling career woman in "Always Room at the Top" Osborne (1943-47), Robert Montgomery (1948) (1947), and Ida Lupino as a businesswoman coping with her ex- convict husband in "The Bullet" (1949). Suspense also Announcers helped shape star personas, first casting Vincent Price as a Truman Bradley, Ken Niles, and Frank Martin (1943-47), Bob murdering sophisticate in one of Fletcher's best stories, Stevenson, Harlow Wilcox (1948 -54), Larry Thor and Stu "Fugue in C Minor" (1944); in addition, Jimmy Stewart's turn Metz as a paralyzed veteran who believes he is being stalked by his Japanese torturer in "Mission Completed" (1949) anticipates Actors the actor's work for Hitchcock in the 195os in films such as Cathy Lewis, Agnes Moorehead, Jeanette Nolan, Hans Rear Window. Conreid, Joseph Kearns, Elliott Lewis, , Mary In later years, the direction of the program shifted to Jane Croft, Bill Johnstone, William Conrad, Lillian Buyeff, Anton M. Leader and then to Elliot Lewis, but the high qual- Paul Frees, Irene Tedrow ity and star power of the programs continued until the mid - 19505. Comedians and musical stars continued doing interest- Producers/Directors ing variations on their star personas, with as a Charles Vanda (194z), William Spier (1942-48, 1949-50), bank thief in "Good and Faithful Servant" (1952), Red Skel- William Robson (1948), Anton M. Leader (1948-49), Elliott ton haunted by dreams in "The Search for Isabel" (1949), and Lewis (1950 -54), Norman Macdonnell (1954), Antony Ellis Danny Kaye as a scapegoat for murder in "I Never Met a (1954-56), William N. Robson (1956-59), Bruno Zirato Jr. Dead Man" (195o). Past shows were frequently repeated (1959 -6z), Fred Hendrickson (196z) using different stars. In 1949 Suspense made its television debut, and the two shows ran simultaneously until 1954, Programming History when Autolite dropped sponsorship of both. The television CBS 22. July 1940 (single episode); June 1942 - show ceased production, but the radio program continued September 1962 until 1962 under multiple sponsorship, making it one of the longest- running programs in radio history. Fortunately, Further Reading recordings of well over 900 of the program's 945 episodes are Grams, Martin, Jr., Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and available commercially. Listening to them today, they not only Chills, Kearney, Nebraska: Morris, 1997 provide thrills and chills but are also an invaluable historical Kear, Lynn, Agnes Moorehead: A Bio- Bibliography, Westport, record of their time. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1992 Krutnik, Frank, In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, ALLISON MCCRACKEN Masculinity, New York: Routledge, 1991

Sustaining Programs

Sustaining programs are those not supported by advertising could networks or stations offer the diverse points of view and revenue; the cost of airtime is said to be sustained by the net- coverage of public affairs that advertisers might not support. work or station. Sustaining programs may be of any format Deregulation has swept away most such thinking, and sustain- but most are usually (especially in recent years) of some public ing programs today are few and far between. service variety. Although never formally required by law, sustaining pro- Origins grams have been seen in the past as a key part of radio's responsibilities under the "public interest" portion of federal At first, virtually all radio time was provided on a sustaining regulations concerning radio. The original regulatory theory basis; there was no commercial advertising on the air. Station held that only by providing programs on a sustaining basis operators sustained the entire cost of their broadcast activities.