Frame Up

When art dealer Vincent Marlowe discovers a masterpiece hidden in his late uncle's estate, he believes his fortune has finally turned. But this canvas conceals a darker truth—one painted in betrayal and murder. As Vincent navigates the shadowy underworld of high-stakes art forgery and blackmail, the walls close in with terrifying speed. Is the painting genuine, or merely a frame for a crime? And more troubling still: is Vincent the hunter or the hunted? In this atmospheric 1970s mystery, sinister phone calls, mysterious visitors, and cryptic messages transform an ordinary Manhattan townhouse into a labyrinth of suspicion. The tension crackles through your radio speaker as our protagonist realizes that someone has meticulously orchestrated his downfall—and they're very close indeed.

CBS Radio Mystery Theater arrived during a golden renaissance of radio drama, when FM audiences hungry for sophisticated storytelling turned to their speakers for escape. Running from 1974 to 1982, the program brought the psychological intensity and cinematic pacing of film noir into American living rooms, featuring writers and actors of exceptional caliber. Each episode unfolded like a short story—complete and self-contained—offering that rare combination of intelligent plotting, genuine scares, and moral complexity. "Frame Up" exemplifies the show's signature style: a confined setting, a protagonist with something to hide, and the inexorable tightening of circumstances that proves how easily an innocent person might be destroyed by circumstance and cunning.

This is radio drama at its finest—where your imagination becomes the camera, and suggestion proves far more powerful than spectacle. Tune in and discover why CBS Radio Mystery Theater remains the gold standard of the medium, a masterclass in suspense that proves some of the most terrifying stories ever told were heard, not seen.