The Marvelous Barastro: A Duel of Illusions

Originally Aired: April 13, 1944

The Marvelous Barastro: A Duel of Illusions:

In this spellbinding episode of Suspense, Orson Welles delivers a haunting dual performance as Barastro and Rico Sansoni—two rival magicians locked in a decades-long psychological and supernatural battle.

Barastro, a traveling illusionist, shares his eerie tale with producer William Spier: a love story turned nightmare. Twenty years earlier, Barastro fell in love with Anna, a blind girl whose spirit and vision of the world captivated him. But their idyllic life is shattered by the arrival of Rico Sansoni—an enigmatic and charismatic magician who seduces Anna and ultimately assumes Barastro’s identity using his unmatched skill in mimicry and illusion.

What unfolds is a chilling descent into madness as Barastro realizes he is being replaced—his face, his voice, his life—by a man who can become him so completely that even Anna cannot tell the difference. As the rivalry turns deadly, Barastro’s obsession with justice drives him to the edge of sanity.

With hypnotic storytelling, eerie tension, and Welles’ unforgettable portrayal of two indistinguishable enemies, The Marvelous Barastro is a tour-de-force of dramatic radio and one of Suspense’s most psychologically complex episodes.

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Cast: Orson Welles (as Barastro and Rico Sansoni), William Spier (Narrator), with additional voices by Hans Conried and Joseph Kearns.