{
  "title": "ARCH OBOLER’S PLAYS",
  "category": "[RADIO-SERIES]",
  "article": "Although not by any means a horror program per se, this series was what NBC gave in and ceded\nto Oboler when he decided in the fall of 1938 not to return to Lights Out, which he had scripted\nfor the two previous years. Consisting of both new scripts and a smattering of stories from his\nprevious gig, it proves conclusively that although Oboler may have thought he was done with\nhorror, it was clear that horror was not done with him.\nThe main purpose of this entry is to straighten out, once and for all, which of Oboler’s scripts\nappeared first on Lights Out and which appeared first on Arch Oboler’s Plays. Oboler started all\nthe confusion by re-using scripts from AOP on his 1942-43 revival of Lights Out. And he later\nmixed recordings from both Lights Out and Arch Oboler’s Plays into his 1970 series The Devil\nand Mr. O. Over the years nameless collectors have spliced Lights Out openings onto AOP shows\n(even AOP shows like “Nobody Died” that were never redone on LO, and in the Nineties OTR\ncompany Metacom, in cooperation with Oboler, did the same thing on a larger scale.\nAnother reason for this entry is to highlight the handful of scripts that are relevant to this book\nbut which were never repeated by Oboler on Lights Out or anywhere else: “Crazytown,” “Nobody\nDied,” etc.\n[Paul K. Damai, Hammond Times] “Oboler is overrated—or at least thus run our sentiments.\nOccasionally he socks the carillon, but even when he clicks his writings have a monotony. A demi-\nmoribund air pervades too thickly not only the confines of his whole works but hangs heavy in the\nsubdivisions comprising the individual MSS. Such lack of versatility earns criticism.\n“The first in this new series, ‘The Ugliest Man in the World,’ was one of Oboler’s better efforts.\nNot only that, it had a happy ending which is surprising for a psychological study where a suicide\nseemed to be the only hackneyed but expected solution. ‘Not romantic, but psychological,’ said\nAuthor Arch after the play, describing the aims and modus operandi of the series. Oboler betrayed\nan excellent mike delivery, and displayed that which gave us a vague notion that here might be\nbetter actor than playwright.\n“The series is of a very high type and decidedly an addition to the enrichment of the air, if the\npresent form is maintained.\n“Oboler’s Play for this week is ‘The Mirage,’ a drama with only two characters…these will be\nenacted by Joan Blaine (Mary Marlin) and Raymond Johnson (who played to the hilt last\nSaturday’s ‘Ugliest Man’).”\n[Lima News] “Boris Karloff, Frankenstein monster of the screen, was the inspiration for ‘The\nUgliest Man in the World,’ premiere production of Arch Oboler’s Plays, new series of original\ndramas of the fantastic and of the imagination to be produced by NBC.\n“Two years ago Karloff and Oboler were drawn together in NBC’s Midnight thrillers, ‘Lights\nOut.’ Karloff was starring in the spinetingling productions and Oboler was then writing them. One\nday the two sat down at lunch and discussed the many distorted-faced characters Karloff had\nportrayed on the screen.\n“ ‘That was the beginning of ‘The Ugliest Man in the World’,’ Oboler explained. ‘But don’t\nmisunderstand me. Boris himself is one of the handsomest men in the world in a virile way, but\nthese ugly monster roles set me thinking. What would happen to the man who was so ugly that\nchildren would scream in fright when they saw him, who was such a shocking spectacle that even\nhis mother’s life became unbearably unhappy? How would such a man react to people and to\nlove? What childhood would he have?’”\nThey'll center on fantasy and\nImagination emotional conflict.\nNot thrills and Romance.",
  "origination": "WEAF, New York City, New York (NBC-RED).",
  "duration": "March 25, 1939-March 23, 1940.",
  "personnel": "Arch Oboler (scriptwriter), Edwin Whitney (director).",
  "extant_recordings": "",
  "chronology": "ARCH OBOLER’S PLAYS (WEAF, NEW YORK)\n[Saturday—10:00-10:30 PM]\nMarch 25, 1939\n“The Ugliest Man in the World”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\n[First appearance of this script. Repeated on same series on July 22, and\nredone on Lights Out on June 1, 1943. Re-broadcast on The Devil and\nMr. O as “Mr. Freak.”]\nCAST: Raymond Edward Johnson, et al.\nApril 1, 1939\n“Mirage”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\n[“…Arch Oboler will portray the entire action of a radio drama through\nthe medium of only two characters in ‘Mirage’… The two characters of the\nnovel drama are Linda and Carl, two society sophisticates, who desert a\nparty to stroll on a nearby beach. Linda’s only interest in life is society\nand Carl’s is business. The viewpoints of both change completely,\nhowever, after watching an old man writing in the sands on the beach.\nThe two difficult roles will be enacted by the popular stars, Joan Blaine\nand Ray Johnson. These two actors are among the group of players\nEdwin Whitney, production director, plans to use frequently to interpret\nthe highly imaginative Oboler dramas. Others in this group are Ann\nShepherd, Betty Caine, and Frank Lovejoy….”]\n[First appearance of this script. Repeated on same series on November\n25 (a abridged version), and redone on Lights Out on September 21,\n1943.\nCAST: Joan Blaine, Raymond Edward Johnson.\nApril 8, 1939\n“The Truth”\n[“…Ray Collins will be starred in the difficult role of a scientist who\nendeavors to determine whether the universe has an independent,\nmaterial existence or whether it is just an idea in the mind of God…”]\n[Repeated in the 1945 revival of Arch Oboler’s Plays. Never a Lights Out\nbroadcast, but certainly a “far-out” script. Man dreams of his soul flying\nout and expanding into the universe; turns out it’s a dream leading into\nthe man’s actual death.]\nCAST: Ray Collins, et al.\nApril 15, 1939\n“The Ways of Men, Past, Present and               [EXTANT RECORDING]\nFuture: Memoriam, Sole Survivors, The Laughing Man”\n[“…Arch Oboler, who presented a psychological study, a fantasy and a\nphilosophical drama as the first three of his new series of plays over\nWEAF will turn to stark realism for his fourth broadcast, with three short\nsketches on the general theme of war and peace. The first, ‘Sole\nSurvivors,’ will have a contemporary setting. The second, called\n‘Memoriam,’ is to treat of a past conflict. ‘Hail Victory,’ the third, will dip\nfar into the future in an endeavor to show where present trends may lead\nthe human race…”]\nCAST: Curt Conway, Raymond Edward Johnson, et al.\nApril 22, 1939\n“Mr. Important”\nCAST: Martin Gabel, et al.\nApril 29, 1939\n“The Cliff”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\n[First appearance of this script. Redone on Lights Out on July 6, 1943.]\nCAST: Frank Lovejoy, et al.\nMay 6, 1939\n“The Engulfed Cathedral”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\n[Must hear this: is it the same as “The Sea”???]\nCAST: Raymond Edward Johnson, et al.\nMay 13, 1939\n“Baby”\nCAST: Ireene Wicker, et al.\nMay 20, 1939\n“Crazytown”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Edmond O’Brien, Paul Stewart, et al.\nMay 27, 1939\n“The Word”\n[“…a stream-of-consciousness drama dealing with the strange obsession\nof a woman… Under severe emotional strain, the woman begins to\nbelieve that if she can hear the last words of persons passing from this\nlife she will be able to understand the mysteries of immortality. An\nunusual psychological reaction brings about a surprising climax to the\ndrama…”]\nJune 3, 1939\n“Dark World” / “Steel” / “Humbug”\n[“…Three short works of widely contrasting character will be heard…\n‘Steel’ and ‘Humbug’ will be heard with Raymond Edward Johnson in the\nroles he originally made famous. The third, ‘Dark World,’ will star Joan\nBlaine. ‘Steel’ is an impressionistic picture of the life of a metal worker.\n‘Humbug’ is a fantasy in which a man of the year 21939 comes across a\nhistory book written in the 20th century. ‘Dark World’ is a story of the\nsupernatural in which a woman who has just died attempts to reply to\nremarks being made about her past by doctors and nurses in the\nhospital…”]\nJune 10, 1939\n“Nero’s Wife”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nJune 17, 1939\n“The Immortal Gentleman”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Edmond O’Brien, et al.\nJune 24, 1939\n“The Luck of Mark Street”\nCAST: Raymond Edward Johnson.\nJuly 1, 1939\n“Visitor from Hades”\nCAST: Frank Lovejoy, et al.\n[Saturday—9:30-10:00 PM]\nJuly 8, 1939\n“The Ivory Tower”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Alla Nazimova, et al.\nJuly 15, 1939\n“The Shooting Star” / “Talisman” / “Eigerwund”\nCAST: Raymond Edward Johnson, et al.\nJuly 22, 1939\n“The Ugliest Man in the World”\nJuly 29, 1939\n“Alter Ego”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Betty Garde, et al.\nAugust 5, 1939\n“Mr. Pip” / “Man to Hate” / “Rich Kid”\nAugust 12, 1939\n“History of a Mug”\nAugust 19, 1939\n“Efficiency Island”\n[“…The industrial scene of the future will be treated in realistic dramatic\nfashion… Betty Caine will have the leading role in the drama, which\nattempts to forecast working conditions in the days when straightline\nfactory production methods will have been carried to perfection…”]\nAugust 26, 1939\n“This Lonely Heart”\nCAST: Alla Nazimova, et al.\nSeptember 2, 1939\n“Love Story Ltd.” / “The Trail” / “Mungahra”\n[“Mungahra” is a shortened version of “Death Prayer,” which ran on\nLights Out on November 4, 1936. It was redone on Lights Out on October\n27, 1942\nCAST: Santos Ortega, et al.\nSeptember 9, 1939\n“And Adam Begot”\nSeptember 16, 1939\n“Suffer Little Children” / “Finale” / “I Do”\nCAST: Frank Lovejoy, et al.\nSeptember 23, 1939\n“Mr. Whiskers”\nCAST: Morris Carnovsky, et al.\nSeptember 30, 1939\n“Holiday 1939”\nCAST: Raymond Edward Johnson, et al.\nOctober 7, 1939\n“The Machine” / “Happy Year” / “Autumn Flower”\nOctober 14, 1939\n“The Word”\nCAST: Edmond O’Brien, et al.\nOctober 21, 1939\n“Perfect Party”\nCAST: Lurene Tuttle, et al.\nOctober 28, 1939\n“Profits Unlimited”\nNovember 4, 1939\n“Young Mr. Trouble”\nCAST: Billy Halop, et al.\nNovember 11, 1939\n“I’ll Tell My Husband”\nCAST: Gale Sondergard, et al.\nNovember 18, 1939\n“Bathysphere”\nCAST: George Zucco, et al.\nNovember 25, 1939\n“Mirage” / “Miss American”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Katharine Hepburn, Burgess Meredith, et al.\n[2nd half (Miss American) only. Followed by 9 minute interview with\nArch Oboler commenting on the series.]\nDecember 2, 1939\n“State Executioner” / “Danse Macabre”\nDecember 9, 1939\n“Hometown” / “New World”\nDecember 16, 1939\n“Nobody Died”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Jay Novello, et al.\nDecember 23, 1939\n“These Are Your Brothers”\nDecember 30, 1939\n“This Precious Freedom”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nJanuary 6, 1940\n“Money, Money, Money”\nJanuary 13, 1940\n“The Truth”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Hans Conried, Lou Merrill, Lurene Tuttle.\nJanuary 20, 1940\n“The Sensitive Mr. Ginsberg”\nJanuary 27, 1940\n“Three Stories—With Tongue-in-Cheek:         [EXTANT RECORDING]\nBack to the Indians / The Day the Earth Exploded / Laughing\nMan\nFebruary 3, 1940\n“A Hollywood Special”\nCAST: Geraldine Page, et al.\nFebruary 10, 1940\n“Memoriam” / “Dark World”\nFebruary 17, 1940\n“Genghis Khan”\nFebruary 24, 1940\n“The Women Stayed at Home”\nCAST: Elsa Lanchester, et al.\nMarch 2, 1940\n“Baby”\nCAST: Joan Crawford, et al.\nMarch 9, 1940\n“Johnny Got His Gun”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: James Cagney, et al.\nMarch 16, 1940\n“The Most Dangerous Game”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\nCAST: Ronald Colman, et al.\nMarch 23, 1940\n“The Ivory Tower”\nCAST: Alla Nazimova, et al.",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}