Not only is this the conclusion of our Suspense-o-rama, a whole bunch of episodes from the classic series, it’s also our 200th episode! We are celebrating this momentous landmark by listening to a story written by the esteemed Lucille Fletcher and performed by the one-and-only Orson Welles, a tale entitled, “The Hitchhiker!” Welles plays a motorist whose cross-country trip becomes something more mysterious after he sees a seemingly innocuous man by the side of the road. Where will this strange journey lead? How did Suspense distinguish itself from other scary shows of the time? Where does Mr. Spock live? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
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I could have sworn you had done “The Hitchhiker” before! I thought I remembered hearing it when I was in New York. And then again driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And again in New Mexico . . .
I see what you did there
🙂
Well played, sir. Well played.
According to the inflation calculator, that $3.85 call, in 1940, would be the equivalent of $71.56 in 2020, which blows my mind on a number of levels. I feel like it adds to his desperation, to know this after the fact, to blow THAT MUCH MONEY on a long-distance phone call, and I realize that real-time Suspense listeners would get it. I mean, since filling up his gas tank was only a dollar-something, I knew the call cost a lot, but it’s just one of those details that says so much about his state of mind. Gah, I love Lucille… Read more »
I was so enthralled by the sound of the coins, I didn’t stop to think of their value. Thanks for the insight. And, yes, I second your Gah. Fletcher is fantastic.
This might be the “spooky recurring hitchhiker episode from another series” mentioned during the commentary at 35:48: Quiet, Please Summer, Goodbye by Wyllis Cooper Interesting to compare this to Lucille Fletcher’s “The Hitch-Hiker,” one of radio’s most famous horror plays, since both use the “mysteriously reappearing hitch-hiker” device. Cooper’s play takes place in a matter of hours, Fletcher’s in six days; Cooper’s protagonist drives for his life from the cops (which ratchets up the suspense immediately), Fletcher’s travels leisurely for obscure reasons; Cooper’s protagonist has another fully-realized character to talk to for the entire trip, Fletcher’s meets a number of… Read more »
I have no idea if this is the story Eric was trying to remember, but it certainly has a lot in common with “The Hitchhiker”. To answer the reviewer’s question, I think Fletcher wins. “Summer, Goodbye” is a solid Cooper script with some beautiful narration, but the end is a little too pat for my taste. And I say that as an ardent admirer of Mr. Cooper’s work.
Thanks for sharing it. I’ll pass it on to Eric and find out if this is the one!
I think there was also a Twilight Zone with that theme.
Hubby loves this episode, but absolutely hates my interpretation of it. Spoiler: it’s not spine-tingling in the slightest. The hitchhiker never does or says anything remotely threatening, even the train incident in context wasn’t menacing. Hitchhiker couldn’t be beckoning the driver to his death since he was already dead, rather beckoning him to the realization of his prior demise. I always see the hitchhiker as an angel, or entity, there to accompany and ease John Adams journey into the afterlife. What’s so scary about that? …and with those few sentences I destroyed one of his favourite radio plays. 😕 Still… Read more »
*Ron Adams.
And the thought that that brief three minute call was worth more than $70 really speaks to his desperation to hear the voice of someone he loves…which is ultimately denied to him.
All the money in the world won’t buy you one more minute with someone you love…….
Eric nailed it in one. The Hitchiker is the classic death figure from so much folklore. He doesn’t come interrupt the phone call, because the guy is finally going to learn the truth, which is his whole purpose.
While I think it would have been a better ending to cut off at the end of the phone call, this is truly a classic episode.