Pigeon in the Cage: Suspense (May 25, 1953)

Suspense, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“Pigeon in the Cage” is an episode of Suspense, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 25, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Gerald Brewer, a paper hanger, is stuck in an old house elevator between floors and cannot make anyone hear him. Through a narrow gap he overhears Harry and Janice, who are plotting a murder in the living room below. Brewer, who has a pregnant wife waiting for him at home, must decide whether to reveal that he heard them. The elevator is part of a Suspense radio play from May 25, 1953, starring Dick Hames.

An old house with an elevator stuck between the first and second floors, with a living room below and a bedroom upstairs.

Characters: Gerald Brewer, Mr. Rogers, Harry, Janice, Norma

Listen for: Brewer's growing realisation that he is trapped in the elevator directly above the couple's plans, and how he tries to stay hidden.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.