ABC MYSTERY TIME—“MYSTERY CLASSICS”
[RADIO-SERIES]
A conglomeration of shows appeared under this heading between 1953 and 1958. A series of
“Mystery Classics,” running on Thursday evenings, emphasized the weird and the supernatural.
ORIGINATION: WABC, New York City, New York (ABC)
DURATION: May 3, 1956-September 30, 1957.
PERSONNEL: Clark Andrews (producer), Martin Andrews (producer), Robert A. Arthur (producer), Eleanor
Beeson (scriptwriter), Hector Chevigny (scriptwriter), Ronald Dawson (producer), Don Dowd (host), Robert
Foster (scriptwriter), Katherine Green (scriptwriter), Joseph Greene (scriptwriter), C. M. Roach
(scriptwriter), Howard Rodman (scriptwriter), John Roeburt (scriptwriter), Joseph Ruscoll (scriptwriter),
Sidney Slon (scriptwriter), Leonard St. Clair (scriptwriter), Ian Thorne (scriptwriter), John West
(scriptwriter).
GUEST STARS (Theatre Royal re-runs): Robert Donat, Sir Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Sir Ralph
Richardson, Orson Welles.
CASTS: Peggy Allenby, Ed Begley, Ralph Bell, Frank Butler, Roger de Koven, Ivor Francis, Richard Janover,
William Johnstone, Connie Lembcke, Ann Loring, Ian Martin, et al.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Half an Hour” (8/2/56), “Death Walked In,” “Four Fatal Jugglers,” “Four Time Loser,”
“Murder in Haste,” “My Adventure in Norfolk,” “No One Will Ever Know,” “The Overcoat,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray,”
“Success Story,” “The Suicide Club,” “The Tale.”
[CHRONOLOGY]
ABC MYSTERY TIME—“MYSTERY CLASSICS” (WABC, NEW YORK)
[Thursday—7:30-7:55 PM]
May 3, 1956 “The Queen of Spades”
May 10, 1956 “The Judgment”
May 17, 1956 “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
May 24, 1956 “Markheim”
[“…Sir Laurence Olivier stars as a man who murders for money, then
repents…”]
May 31, 1956
June 7, 1956 “The Suicide Club” [EXTANT RECORDING]
June 14, 1956
June 21, 1956
June 28, 1956
July 5, 1956
July 12, 1956
July 19, 1956
July 26, 1956
August 2, 1956 “Half an Hour” [EXTANT RECORDING]
August 9, 1956
August 16, 1956 “The Sire de Maltroit’s Door” [EXTANT RECORDING]
August 30, 1956 “The Killing at Lafayette Place”
September 6, 1956
September 13, 1956
September 20, 1956
September 27, 1956
October 4, 1956
October 11, 1956
October 18, 1956
October 25, 1956
November 1, 1956
November 8, 1956
November 15, 1956
November 22, 1956 “The Fall of the House of Usher”
November 29, 1956
December 6, 1956
December 13, 1956
December 20, 1956
December 27, 1956
January 3, 1957
January 10, 1957
January 17, 1957
January 24, 1957
January 31, 1957
February 7, 1957
February 14, 1957
February 21, 1957
February 28, 1957
March 7, 1957 “The Ivory Elephant”
[“…concerns strange fate of a group of ivory hunters in a remote part of
Africa who have found treasure in an elephant burial ground…”]
March 14, 1957 “Hunting Trip”
[“…Two former college friends and rivals in love go on a hunting trip…”]
March 21, 1957 “Suspicion”
[“…concerns a jealous wife who makes a fateful error on her twentieth
wedding anniversary…”]
March 28, 1957 “The Locomotive Ghost”
[“…Two robbers wreck a miners’ payroll train and are haunted by one of
their victims…”]
April 4, 1957
[“…the story of a mentalist who plots to control a man and force him to
kill an unfaithful wife…”]
April 11, 1957 "Til Death Do Us Part”
[“…A couple learns their honeymoon literally means…”]
April 18, 1957 “The Upper Berth” (F. Marion Crawford)
[“…A combined mystery and ghost story begins in a ship’s stateroom…”]
April 25, 1957 “Death Takes First Prize”
[“…A street photographer takes a picture of a tenement girl who is later
killed…”]
May 2, 1957 “Death Rides the Storm” [EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…A dead woman comes back from the grave to prevent her husband’s
remarrying…”]
May 9, 1957 “The Third Grace” [EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…Bret Morrison, the original ‘Shadow’ on radio, is cast as an
unscrupulous art dealer…”]
May 16, 1957 “Shadow of Danger”
[“…a young man fights for his sanity in a hospital where he suspects a
weird plot against his life…”]
May 23, 1957 “Ski Master”
[“…An heiress-hunting ski expert is confronted by his pre-war wife…”]
May 30, 1957 “The Tell-Tale Heart”
[“…the gripping story of a man’s conscience and his doom…”]
June 6, 1957 “I’ll Dance on Your Grave” [EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…A fickle girl dancer and the ruthless agent ‘eliminate’ the girl’s
husband-partner…”]
June 13, 1957
June 20, 1957
[Monday—7:30-8:00 PM]
June 24, 1957
July 1, 1957
July 8, 1957
July 15, 1957
July 22, 1957
July 29, 1957
August 5, 1957 “The Cask of Amontillado”
August 12, 1957 “The Horla” [EXTANT RECORDING]
August 19, 1957 “The Cask of Amontillado”
August 26, 1957
September 2, 1957
September 9, 1957 “The Lily Pond”
[“…About an elderly lady who fights town officials and health
authorities…”]
September 16, 1957 “The Black Cat” [EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…Hector Chevigny’s adaptation of a story about a man obsessed by
aelurophobia.”
September 23, 1957 “Can Such Things Be?”
[“…adapted by C. M. Roach from a story by Robert W. Chambers. The
ghost of a French soldier turned traitor in the British-Breton war of 1760
returns to haunt the descendant of the woman who caused his death…”]
September 30, 1957 “The Upper Berth”
[“…ghost story set aboard a passenger liner…”]
MYSTERY TIME (AFRTS DISC SERIES)
September 27, 1957 [44] “Death Rides the Storm”
October 4, 1957 [45] “The Sire de Maletroit’s Door”
October 11, 1957 [46] “The Third Grace”
October 18, 1957 [47]
October 25, 1957 [48]
November 1, 1957 [49]
November 8, 1957 [50] “I’ll Dance on Your Grave”
November 15, 1957 [51] “They’ll Never Believe Me”
November 22, 1957 [52]
November 29, 1957 [53]
December 6, 1957 [54]
December 13, 1957 [55]
December 20, 1957 [56]
December 27, 1957 [57]
January 3, 1958 [58] “Collector’s Items”
January 10, 1958 [59] “The Horla”
January 17, 1958 [60]
January 24, 1958 [61]
January 31, 1958 [62] “The Mysterious Mansion”
Titles without dates:
“Death by Proxy”
“Death Walked In”
“Four Fatal Jugglers”
“Four Time Loser”
“Murder in Haste”
“My Adventure in Norfolk”
“No One Will Ever Know”
“The Overcoat”
“The Picture of Dorian Gray”
“Success Story”
“The Tale”