GREAT TALES OF IMAGINATION
[RADIO-SERIES]
After the series had run its brief summer course on Monday evenings, it was shortly brought back
for an equally-brief Friday night run.
ORIGINATION: CBM, Montreal, Quebec (CBC Trans-Canada Network).
DURATION: July 7-October 24, 1947.
PERSONNEL: Gordon Burwash (scriptwriter), Rupert Caplan (producer), Gerald Rowan (scriptwriter),
Joseph Schull (scriptwriter).
[CHRONOLOGY]
GREAT TALES OF IMAGINATION (CBM, MONTREAL—CBC TRANS-CANADA)
[Monday—9:00-9:30 PM]
July 7, 1947 “Under the Terror”
[OTTAWA CITIZEN: “…dramatizes imaginative tales of some of the world’s
greatest writers. Among these are Poe, Balzac, de Maupassant and
Dickens. Tonight’s program will present an adaptation by Hugh Kemp of
Balzac’s ‘Under the Terror’…”]
SCRIPT: Hugh Kemp (adapted from the story by Honore Balzac).
July 14, 1947 “Greenlaw Moor”
[OTTAWA CITIZEN: “…The CBC in keeping with the weather and with the
general trend of gruesome and gory stories on the air is presenting a
weekly series of half-hour dramas on Monday nights… Rupert Caplan
will direct an adaptation of a story by the Scottish writer, Andrew Lang,
entitled ‘Greenlaw Moor’… ‘None of my blood is to set foot upon
Greenlaw Moor,’ Adam Keane told his children. However, he himself was
the first of his family to venture, for over a hundred years, onto the
cursed moor where his great-great-grandfather had been murdered by
his own son, said death to be repaid by the murder of Adam’s son…”]
SCRIPT: Joseph Schull (adapted from the story by Andrew Lang).
July 21, 1947 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (by Washington Irving)
July 28, 1947 “The Monkey’s Paw” (by W.W. Jacobs)
August 4, 1947 “The Bet” (by Anton Chekhov)
August 11, 1947 “The Bells”
August 18, 1947 “Peter Rugg, the Missing Man” (by William Austin)
[Friday—9:00-9:30 PM]
September 19, 1947
September 26, 1947 “The Monkey’s Paw”
October 3, 1947 “The Tall Woman” (by Pedro Antonio de Alarcon)
October 10, 1947
October 17, 1947 “Storm Signals”
October 24, 1947 “The Queen of Spades” (by Alexander Pushkin)
RADIO’S GALLERY OF
GHOULS
. (1923-1962) .
Series regulars Muir Hite and Ben Morris enact an nightmarish opium-den scene from
the Dark Fantasy episode “Dead Hands Reaching” for the benefit of the Radio Guide
photographer
The ghostly faces of producer John I. Prosser and writer Scott Bishop hover above the
typewriter as they pound out plot details for another Dark Fantasy.
The earliest ads for the NBC show Inner Sanctum Mysteries emphasized creator-
producer Himan Brown’s original name for the series, The Creaking Door, which was
rejected by the sponsor.
Raymond Edward Johnson brought ghoulish humor to a new high(?) as the painfully
punning host who lurked behind that horrible door.
A new network for Inner Sanctum Mysteries, but the old ghouls still find their way into
Raymond’s sanctorum. Elspeth Eric and Peter Lorre emote for the CBS microphone in
1944.
In 1945 Paul McGrath replaced Ray Johnson as the creep behind the door. Here
McGrath (bursting through said door) and producer Himan Brown act as “cheering
section” as another Sanctum killer wraps his murderous mitts around the throat of
Mercedes McCambridge.
Don Lewis and Orval Anderson in the New Orleans studios of WWL, broadcasting
another installment of Ed Hoerner’s 1941 series Voice in the Night—billed as “horror
stories of other days, and of today…”
Eva La Gallienne, a living legend of the American theatre, became a mistress of the
macabre for the Blue network offering, Horror Inc., a short-lived 1943 series of literary
readings with sinister organ stylings by Rosa Rio (who also keyboarded The Shadow
over at Mutual). “Horror, Inc.” reported The Billboard, “digs down to find the bleakest
and most violent bits that have been written.”
Don Douglas (the New York radio actor, not the Hollywood supporting player) did all
of the voices in The Black Castle, including the announcer, the crazed Wizard and his
pet raven Diablo (which meant that each week he introduced the audience to himself
with himself perched on his shoulder).
Valentine Dyall brought sepulchral shadings of tone to his role as “The Man in Black,”
the sinister compere of the BBC program Appointment With Fear. “The voice wasn’t
really that deep,” he insisted, “but that’s the way that people remember it. It was really
higher.”
Maurice Tarplin was a favorite actor of the writing team of Robert Arthur and David
Kogan, appearing in the title roles of their Mutual horror series The Mysterious
Traveler and The Strange Dr. Weird.
“I take the train each week at this time.” Maurice Tarplin in character as “The
Mysterious Traveler.”
After nearly three years with Arsenic and Old Lace—both on Broadway and with the road
show version—Boris Karloff returned to Hollywood to resume his film career. At the
beginning of 1944, the Blue Network, no longer under NBC ownership, inked him to
host and star in a new series, Creeps by Night.
Bela Lugosi also had a shot at a series in 1944, but apparently nothing developed
beyond the NBC audition disc, “The Thirsty Death,” which he and John Carradine
recorded for the prospective show, Mystery House.
Horror writer Robert Bloch enjoyed his first taste of fame beyond the pages of Weird
Tales with the radio dramatization of his story “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” on Kate
Smith’s show in 1944. Later that year he created the series Stay Tuned for Terror, which
adapted 39 of his pulp stories for the syndication market.
Angeline Orr, the female lead of Stay Tuned For Terror, later married the show’s
producer Johnny Neblett and, after his untimely death, attempted to maintain the
fledgling Neblett production company as a going concern.
Creator and scripter Juan Marino and other members of the cast of Chile’s El Siniestro
Doctor Mortis, the longest-running of all radio horror shows, which had its first
broadcast in 1945 and ran on (through several station changes) well into the Eighties.
Boris Aplon prepares to kill the juice big-time in this publicity photo for the 1946
summer revival of Lights Out.
The 1947 revival of the legendary series lasted only three weeks before it was yanked
from the air-waves. The reason? Star Boris Karloff found Willis Cooper’s scripts
(resurrected from the early Chicago days of the show) too gruesome for his liking and
bailed out. (Boris, how could you?!!!)
Peter Lorre found a terrific outlet for his talents in the 1947 summer series Mystery in
the Air, tackling everything from Poe and de Maupassant to modern horror classics like
Nelson Bond’s “The Mask of Medusa.”
Dress rehearsal underway for Mutual’s House of Mystery as “Roger Elliott, the Mystery
Man” (John Griggs) runs over the script with director Olga Druce.
Mexican film star and heartthrob Arturo de Cordova found a second career in the
1950s as the host of XEW fright show Apague la luz y eschuche.
The Mexican incarnation of The Shadow ran in serialized format in the early 1950s, with
a greater emphasis on fantastical and supernatural happenings than its American
counterpart.
The cover to the 1951 book based on the popular Brazilian ghost story program. Series
creator and host Almirante was a key figure in Brazilian broadcasting and a musical star
whose legend shines even to this day.
Moray Powell compered as “The Host” in the Australian version of Inner Sanctum
Mysteries. With his clipped and precise intonation, Powell came across more as
someone who had emerged from a P. G. Wodehouse frolic rather than from a crypt or
sinister den.
In the mid-Fifties Ken Nordine broadcast out of Chicago, doing horror readings on
both radio and television with the WNBQ-WMAQ series Faces in the Window.
Nelson Olmsted carved a unique niche for himself in the 1940s and 50s as a radio
teller-of-tales in series such as The World’s Greatest Stories and Your Story Tonight. In
1956, as a new horror cycle began to manifest itself in the cinema and in the antics of
late-night TV horror hosts, he selected the best macabre tales from his previous
programs and spooked it up on the NBC series Sleep No More.
`
M
MACABRE
A series of original dramas emanating from the Tokyo studios of the Armed Forces
Radio Service Far East Network. “The Macabre series began to take shape,” recalled the
show’s creator William Verdier, “when we recognized the need for a locally-produced
mystery program. We originally taped some nine shows which AFRTS in Los Angeles
accepted and sent around the world.”
“I guess the most difficult part of the whole thing,” remembered Verdier, “was
dreaming up ‘those crazy way-out plots,’ as they say. I wrote mainly at home…and
usually late into the night. I recall writing once until about three in the morning…and
stopped. It was very quiet. The only thing I could hear in the house was the ticking of
the clock. Even the animals were asleep. And I couldn’t think of an ending. So…I went on
to bed. The ending wouldn’t come. And, convenient as this may sound, I dreamed
something which, as soon as I awoke the next morning, I put right into the script before
breakfast.”
VERIFY: “Mr. Buey was program director at FEN Tokyo since 1946 and its inception. He
came into government service from the old Yankee Radio Network on the East Coast.”
“FEN Tokyo sent AFRTS Los Angeles a set of 15 i.p.s. tapes, from which the disks were
mastered, as an unofficial competition with one or more ongoing productions at Armed
Forces Network in Germany (AFN).”
Variant title listing: Macabra (this misspelling occurs in several collectors’ catalogs).
ORIGINATION: FEN TOKYO, Tokyo (Far East Network of the Armed Forces Radio and
Television Service).
DURATION: November 13, 1961-January 29, 1962 (first series), January 14-April 29,
1963 (second series), ??????, 196? (Christmas special), December 5, 1969-January 30,
1970 (third series).
PERSONNEL: Airman First Class Larry Clements (technical supervision), Airman First
Class James Conley (sound patterns, scriptwriter), Airman First Class Larry Dooley
(technical supervision), Air Force Sergeant Bob Eddy (technical supervision, sound
patterns), Airman Burr Hoyle (announcer), Airman Dave James (announcer), Carolyn
Johnston (associate director), Air Force Sergeant Al LePage (announcer), Hiroshi Ono
(technical supervision), Airman Jim Seaberg (scriptwriter), Walt Sheldon (scriptwriter,
director), Air Force Sergeant Newell Stewart (sound patterns), William Verdier
(scriptwriter, director).
CASTS: Shirley Ashey, John Buey, Maureen Buey, Airman First Class James Conley, Air
Force Sergeant Bob Eddy, Army PFC Allan Frank, Mitzie Hennessy, Carolyn Johnston, Air
Force Sergeant Al LePage, Sandra Morey, Frankie Oka, Milton Radmilovich, James
Sheldon, Walt Sheldon, Air Force Sergeant Newell Stewart, Christine Verdier, William
Verdier.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Final Resting Place” (11/13/61), “Weekend” (11/20/61), “The
Man in the Mirror” (11/27/61), “The House in the Garden” (12/4/61), “The Midnight
Horseman” (12/11/61), “The Avenger” (12/18/61), “Of Incense and Myrh” (12/25/61),
“The Crystalline Man” (1/1/62), “The Edge of Evil” (1/8/62), “The Strange Diary of Basil
Rene,” “Dark Crossing,” “Who’s a Dummy,” “The Importance of Being Insane,” “Due to
Circumstances,” “This Will Kill You.”
[NOTE: This is certainly a unique series to attempt to assign dates to the undated
episodes. Our anchoring point in this is James Conley, the only enlisted man to have
been associated with the show all the way through. His advancement through the ranks
provides the most solid clues to the chronology of the episodes.
The earliest appear to be the following four: “Who’s a Dummy,” “The Importance of
Being Insane,” “This Will Kill You,” and “Due to Circumstances.” The first three are
scripted by Airman Jim Seaberg, and the last by Airman James Conley. Airman Dave
James is the announcer. The PSA at the end refers to an Act that went into effect on
??????.
Next in the chronology would be “Dark Crossing.” Seaburg is still with the show,
Conley is now Airman First Class, and Dave James is still the announcer.
Next is “The Strange Diary of Basil Rene.” The script is by William Verdier, and Seaberg,
Conley and James are all still in place.
Next comes the series of eight shows from 1961-62 that are familiar to most
collectors. Most of the scripts are by Verdier, Conley is still Airman First Class, and
Seaburg and James have gone from the scene.
Finally, the Christmas show “Of Incense and Myrh.” Conley is now Air Force Sergeant.
The announcer is Airman Burr Hoyle, whose tour of duty at FEN was from 1963 to 1967.]
MACABRE
[?????
Nov. 13, 1961 “Final Resting Place”
Nov. 20, 1961 “Weekend”
Nov. 27, 1961 “The Man in the Mirror”
Dec. 4, 1961 “The House in the Garden”
Dec. 11, 1961 “The Midnight Horseman”
Dec. 18, 1961 “The Avenger”
Jan. 1, 1962 “The Crystalline Man”
Jan. 8, 1962 “The Edge of Evil”
Jan. 15, 1962
Jan. 22, 1962
Jan. 29, 1962
[?????
Jan. 14, 1963
Jan. 21, 1963
Jan. 28, 1963
Feb. 4, 1963
Feb. 11, 1963
Feb. 18, 1963
Feb. 25, 1963
March 4, 1963
March 11, 1963
March 18, 1963
March 25, 1963
April 1, 1963
April 8, 1963
April 15, 1963
April 22, 1963
April 29, 1963
[????
Dec. 25, 1963? “Of Incense and Myrh”
[????
Dec. 5, 1969
Dec. 12, 1969
Dec. 19, 1969
Dec. 26, 1969
Jan. 2, 1970
Jan. 9, 1970
Jan. 16, 1970
Jan. 23, 1970
Jan. 30, 1970
Programs with unknown broadcast dates (all appear to be pre-1961):
“Who’s a Dummy?”
“The Importance of Being
Insane”
“This Will Kill You”
“Due to Circumstances”
“Dark Crossing”
“The Strange Diary of Basil
Rene”
Sources for log information: Japan Times.
THE MAD DADDY SHOW
“From our secret laboratory—this is sponge-rubber heaven. Rockin’ and reelin’, havin’ a
ball—Swingin’ and singin’, strait jacket and all!”
Sociologists may make of it what they will, but the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-Fifties
coincides interestingly with the revival of the horror genre.
“In 1959 WNEW hired the biggest DJ in Cleveland, and the wildest DJ anywhere, Pete
Myers, to bring his unique style and personality to New York radio. Myers’ air persona,
The Mad Daddy, was as wild as wild can get—with continuous sound effects, screaming,
maniacal laughter, tons of echo, and lots of rock and roll for the kids.”
“His career began at WHKK, Akron in 1957 where he created the Mad Daddy persona.
He moved to WJW, Cleveland in January 1958 where he stayed until June. In August
1958, he switched to WHK where he reached the peak of his popularity, hosting record
hops and after midnight live shows dressed in a Dracula costume.”
“Cleveland’s very first horror host…Pete “Mad Daddy” Myers… Myers was a very
popular radio d.j. who talked constantly in rhyme; donning a cape with bat-wings and
hood, he became WJW TV’s ‘Shock Theater’ host, presenting the Universal greats from
the 30’s and 40’s, surrounded by a mad-lab set and a constant flow of dry ice fog.”
ORIGINATION: WHK, Cleveland, Ohio.
DURATION: August 1958-June 26, 1959.
PERSONNEL: Pete Myers (voice of “The Mad Daddy”).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
THE MAN IN BLACK
Valentine Dyall’s sinister narrator finally got his own program in this 1949 series.
Dyall was sometimes at pains to separate the reality of his own personality and
interests from the dark predilections of his vox persona, but he did so with grisly good
humour. “A rumour started,” he wrote in 1954, “with my weekly broadcasts as ‘The Man
in Black’—that my appetite for mystery and horror was acquired at six years of age,
when Christmas parcels got mixed up and I received The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
instead of Mother Goose. It is absolutely untrue. I was only five… There are many other
cruel falsehoods—that I keep puff-adders as pets, rear Belladonna in my window-box
and dress like a certain advertisement for a well-known port. The truth is that I have no
penchant for the macabre—only, like Kipling’s baby elephant, an ‘insatiable curtiosity’, a
fatal fascination for ‘the sealed room’. I cannot resist an unsolved mystery, and if it
happens to involve ‘buckets of blood’—well, that’s no deterrent.”
ORIGINATION: The Light Programme, London (BBC).
DURATION: January 31-March 21, 1949.
[NOTE: Recordings of some of the episodes of the series were re-broadcast on
Australian radio station 2FC in Sydney from January 20 to ????, 1952.]
PERSONNEL: John Keir Cross (scriptwriter), Valentine Dyall (voice of “The Man in Black”),
Cleland Finn (producer), David H. Godfrey (producer), Martyn C. Webster (producer).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
THE MAN IN BLACK
[Mondayy—8:30-9:00 PM]
Jan. 31, 1949 “Markheim” (by Robert
Louis Stevenson)
Feb. 7, 1949 “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To
You, My Lad” (by M.R. James)
Feb. 14, 1949 “The Middle Toe of the Right
Foot” (by Ambrose Bierce)
Feb. 21, 1949 “Our Feathered Friends” /
“Thus I Refute Beelzy” (by
John Collier)
Feb. 28, 1949 “The Judge’s House” (by Bram
Stoker)
Mar. 7, 1949 “The Yellow Wallpaper” (by
Charlotte Perkins Gillman)
Mar. 14, 1949 “The Beast with Five Fingers”
(by W.F. Harvey)
Mar. 21, 1949 “The Little House”
MERCER MCLEOD, THE MAN WITH THE STORY
“New NBC Recorded Production that poses the question: where does fantasy end and life
begin?”
Mercer McLeod, the creator of the legendary Canadian horror series The Ghost Walker,
put on this show for NBC transcriptions with his wife and acting partner, Reta Laverne.
McLeod, in a very real sense, could be categorized as the Alonzo Deen Cole of
Canadian radio, as writer, producer and star of two different series of The Ghost Walker
in the 1930s and 40s, the Winnipeg series Lend Me Your Ears in 1939, and this series in
the mid-40s.
[NBC ad] “Mercer McLeod, world traveler, actor, writer has every qualification for being
a great storyteller. His strange tales…many from his own pen…follow a time-tested
pattern for entertainment…recreate experiences of adventure, suspense, mystery…bring
to life a world of legendary fantasy. Portraying all male characters in each program, his
astounding voice changes and keen sense of pacing give his stories a reality that is
inescapable. Reta McLeod, his talented wife, plays all feminine parts.
Audience acceptance for this unusual show is an established fact. Listeners to the
coast-to-coast Canadian network voted Mercer McLeod..The Man With The Story one of
their favorite dramatic programs.”
The Man with the Story is an oddity, in that it is clearly a horror series and seven out of
the eight extant shows have definite supernatural elements in them (some of a rather
gruesome nature), yet the opening and closing segments do their best to not convey
any sense of the eerie or horrific. Instead, we have “shimmering skies” organ music, a
cheerful greeting from McLeod, and silly closing patter (“Say hello, Reta.” “Hello.” “Say
goodbye, Reta.” “Goodbye.”)
ORIGINATION: NBC Radio-Recording Division (Orthacoustic transcriptions).
DURATION: 52 episodes released for twice-weekly broadcast in February, 1946.
[NOTE: The syndicated series may have been released in Canada prior to this date, or
the NBC ad reference may be to the Canadian version of this show, which was then
picked up for distribution in the States.]
PERSONNEL: Mercer McLeod (scriptwriter, voice of “The Man with the Story”).
CASTS: Mercer McLeod, Reta Laverne McLeod.
SPONSOR: Card’s Drug Store, Hornell (WWHG), et al.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Birthday Present” (6/5/47; #6), “The Jungle Speaks”
(8/20/47; #4), “The Music Box from Hades” (5/4/48; #2), “The Mysterious Drawing”
(5/13/48; #1), “Two Extra Passengers” (8/10/48; #5), “The Bluestones” (11/9/48; #8), “The
Story of Ecco” (#3), “Won’t You Believe Me?” (#7).
[NOTE: The dates listed above were etched onto the disc matrix. The program numbers
were (presumably) taken from the disc labels and are at variance with the dates and with
internal evidence in the shows themselves.]
MIDNIGHT MACABRE / MACABRE MYSTERY
Broadcast from KPO in Oakland in 1944; subject for further research, if possible (no S.F.
radio coverage at that time).
ORIGINATION: KPO, Oakland.
DURATION: September 8-November 3, 1944 (Midnight Macabre), November 10, 1944-
January 5, 1945 (Macabre Mystery).
PERSONNEL: Unknown.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MIDNIGHT MACABRE
[Friday—11:30 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
Sep. 8, 1944
Sep. 15, 1944
Sep. 22, 1944
Sep. 29, 1944
Oct. 6, 1944
Oct. 13, 1944
Oct. 20, 1944
Oct. 27, 1944
Nov. 3, 1944
MACABRE MYSTERY
[Friday—9:30-10:00 PM]
Nov. 10, 1944
Nov. 17, 1944
Nov. 24, 1944
Dec. 1, 1944
Dec. 8, 1944
Dec. 15, 1944
Dec. 22, 1944
Dec. 29, 1944
Jan. 5, 1945
EL MISTERIO DE LAS TRES TORRES
This Venezuelan series ran on Radiodifusora in the 1940s, opening to “shady and
frightful tones taken from The Conesecration of the Spring of Stravinski.” Reminisced El
Nacional writer Salvador Garmendia: “Nobody missed an episode. They were histories
tremebundas in which frequently dreadful murders happened, scenes of narrated
tortures and prison brutality with despreocupada truculencia; aside from which the old
tower of Don Eustoquio, where so many innocents had given the core to the terrible
scent of latrine that dominated in the place, was also the favorite lodging of the
ultratomb messengers, encompinchadas core in pain, witches and all sort of diabolic
appearances: dwarves, goblins and men without heads. In our illuminated solitary and
bad big rambling house, the bronchial and whispering tones of the actors left scene and
came towards us unfolding their membranosas wings. To all the end hairs were put to
us.”
ORIGINATION: Radiodifusora, Caracas.
DURATION: Circa 1940s.
PERSONNEL: Unknown.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MISTERIO EN EL AIRE
Broadcast over the affiliates of Radio Cadena Nacional, this series alternated between
mystery and detective stories and horror, ranging from the Sherlock Holmes adventure,
“The Red-Headed League” to an adaptation of Robert Hichens’ classic tale of monstrous
amour, “How Love Came to Professor Gildea.” Other titles in the series included “The
Greatest Monster,” “The Invisible Bride,” “Revenge of the Dead,” “The Scarlet Triangle,”
“The Dog with Two Heads,” “The Night of My Death,” and “The Lighthouse.”
ORIGINATION: XEX, Mexico City, Distrito Federal (RCN).
DURATION: Circa 1953.
PERSONNEL: Unknown.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MISTERIOS DE ULTRATUMBA
Cited in Anecdotario de Radio y Television (Esquivel Puerto, 1970); no further information
is known.
ORIGINATION: XEX, Mexico City, Distrito Federal.
DURATION: Circa 1950s.
PERSONNEL: Roberto Aguilar (producer), Ramon Obon (scriptwriter).
CASTS: Amparo Garrido, et al.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
EL MONJE LOCO
Sometime in the 1950s El Monje Loco switched from XEQ to XEW. The new series took
the old 15-minute narrations and turned them into half-hour dramatizations.
ORIGINATION: XEW, Mexico, D.F.
DURATION: Circa 1950s.
PERSONNEL: Salvador Carasco (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Ignacio Garcia (organist),
Ramon Obon (scriptwriter), Carlos Riverol del Prado (scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “El Horrible caso de las manos cortadas” (ca. 1958).
EL MONJE LOCO
This Nicaraguan version of the popular Mexican horror series was done by Managua
station YNOW (“La Voz de la America Central”), which also did the series Dracula—El
Hombre Vampiro.
ORIGINATION: YNOW, Managua.
DURATION: Circa 1944.
PERSONNEL: Narciso Collac (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Julio Cesar Sandoval (producer).
CASTS: Magda Garcia, Carmen Martinez, Mamerto Martinez Vasquez.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
EL MONJE LOCO
In his youth Anibal Gonzalez Irizarry, later the dean of Puerto Rican newscasters,
emigrated to New York City and for a year was the voice of El Monje Loco on the
Spanish-language program La Voz Hispana del Aire. This was the only known U.S.
appearance of this character.
[WIKIPEDIA] “b. 1927… In 1942, when only 15 years old, he got a job at the radio
station WPRA in Mayaguez and soon became the station’s main broadcaster. In 1950,
Anibal went to New York City, where he worked for WWRL in a program called ‘La Voz
Hispana del Aire’ (The Hispanic Voice on the Air). In that program, he developed a
character which he called ‘Monje Loco’ (Crazy Priest). In 1951, he joined the radio station
WENX and was named Director of Spanish Programs. In 1953, Anibal joined the Army
and later after he was honorably discharged, he returned to New York and continued to
work in the radio… In 1956, Anibal returned to Puerto Rico and joined WKAQ, a
Telemundo affiliate, as its radio announcer.”
ORIGINATION: WWRL, New York City, New York.
DURATION: Circa 1950.
PERSONNEL: Anibal Gonzalez Irizarry (voice of “El Monje Loco”).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MOOD MACABRE
Years before John Morrow did his Dreadful John at Midnight series at WKCR, the
Columbia University radio station, an earlier generation of students put on this show.
Unlike Dreadful John’s solo performance, Mood Macabre appears to have been a full-
fledged drama production, as evidenced by an announcement in the October 25, 1948
issue of the Barnard Bulletin that casting for the show would be held “until further
notice [on] Monday night after show at 9:30 p.m.”
The show first went on the air during the Fall semester of 1948. (A Bulletin article from
earlier in the year—February 13—noted that “there are three weekly dramatic shows,
‘Director’s Guild’ on Wednesdays, ‘Blue Lion’s Workshop’ on Thursdays and ‘The
Playhouse’ on Fridays. The plays which WKCR does are either originals or adaptations of
familiar plays and short stories.”)
Helping with the sound effects was Barnard student Betty Wall who, it was reported,
found herself “involved in such duties as figuring out the best way to reproduce ‘the
sound of a corpse falling’ (Betty jumped on a table) and ‘the sound of footsteps’ (Betty
balanced herself on a shaky wooden box and stamped for an hour).”
ORIGINATION: WKCR, New York City, New York.
DURATION: [October 25-November 1], 1948.
PERSONNEL: Betty Wall (sound effects).
[Students involved with the Friday night broadcasts of Players Playhouse—including Paul
A. Flinn (producer) and Wayne Dail (director)—may have worked on this series as well.]
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MOOD MACABRE
[Monday—9:00-9:30 PM]
Oct. 25, 1948
Nov. 1, 1948
MOON MUSIC
“Special musical arrangements from motion picture sound tracks and radio and TV
programs for your after midnight reverie, as arranged by Richard Powell.”
“Announcer Bob Dalton’s chief chore during the past summer was stroking a feline
named Thanatopsis and commenting on ‘The Black Cat.’ The cat told tales of murder
and mayhem, with the assistance of Dalton and some rather ancient movies… Dalton,
who worked at sounding like the voice of doom for ‘The Black Cat’ television program,
and who practiced a ghostly intonation for a Sunday night radio show called ‘Moon
Music’…”
ORIGINATION: WTOP, Washington, D.C.
DURATION: Circa 1953.
PERSONNEL: Bob Dalton (announcer), Richard Powell (music director).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
“MR. ARCULARIS”
Conrad Aiken’s death fantasy was turned into compelling radio drama, first in Canada
and then in the U.S.
ORIGINATION: C??, Toronto (CBC Trans-Canada Network).
DURATION:
PERSONNEL: Andrew Allan (producer), Gerald Noxon (scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
STAGE 49
[???day—
Nov. 28, 1948 “Mr. Arcularis” (no. 9)
STAGE 50
[???day—
Oct. 30, 1949 “Mr. Arcularis” (no. 6)
STAGE 53
[???day—
Jan. 25, 1953 “Mr. Arcularis”
MURDER AT MIDNIGHT
Syndicated rival to Inner Sanctum.
Louis Cowan: “I was in the Office of War Information in the overseas branch… When I
left the government I wasn’t quite certain about exactly what I would be doing or at
least where I would be doing it, because I didn’t know at that point whether I’d be
moving back to Chicago or stay in New York, and we finally decided to stay in New York.
Teaming up with two former colleagues, Joe Bailey and Al Holander, he determined to
set up in business. “It was determined that we would set up what would be an
independent producing office for radio at that time, and finally managed to locate some
space for an office at 250 West 57thth Street—the Fisk Building, which had also had
offices for the OWI during the war, and it happened that some space was available
there. Space then was almost impossible to get, and we did move in there and set up
our offices.”
“No expense has been spared to make it—yet it’s offered at a price ½ to 1/3 lower
than you’d expect. And the result is a witch’s broth of shivers and suspense that will
knock your audience for a ghoul!”
ORIGINATION: Louis G. Cowan Productions, New York City, New York (electrical
transcriptions distributed through the World Broadcasting System).
DURATION: Released into syndication in May, 1946.
[NOTE: The earliest broadcasts of this series were on WJZ from September 16, 1946 to
September 8, 1947.]
PERSONNEL: Louis G. Cowan (producer), Max Ehrlich (scriptwriter), Anton M. Leader
(director), Peter Martin (scriptwriter), Sigmund Miller (scriptwriter), Raymond Morgan
(narrator), Bill Morwood (scriptwriter), Robert Newman (scriptwriter), Charles Paul (music
director), Joseph Ruscoll (scriptwriter).
CASTS: Alan Baxter, Ed Begley, Frank Behrens, Stuart Brody, Betty Caine, Eric Dressler,
Elspeth Eric, Carl Frank, Elsie Mae Gordon, John Harvey, Wendell Holmes, Barry Hopkins,
Ed Jerome, Raymond Edward Johnson, Berry Kroeger, Joe Latham, Charlotte Lawrence,
Abby Lewis, Robert Lynn, Paul Mann, Mercedes McCambridge, Craig McDonnell, Dick
Nelson, Paul Nugent, Santos Ortega, Bill Quinn, Frank Readick, Ann Shepherd, Helen
Shields, Bill Smith, Hester Sondergaard, Amzie Strickland, Karl Swenson, John Sylvester,
George Tiplady, Luis Van Rooten, Betty Winkler, Roland Winters, Agnes Young, Lawson
Zerbe.
SPONSOR: Ehret’s Beer (WJZ).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Dead Hand” (#1), “The Man Who Was Death” (#2), “The
Secret of XR3” (#3), “Wherever I Go” (#4), “Death’s Goblet” (10/21/46),
MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (DISC SERIES ON WJZ)
[Monday—10:30-11:00 PM]
Sep. 16, 1946 “The Dead Hand”
Sep. 23, 1946 “The Man Who Was Death”
Sep. 30, 1946 “The Secret of XR-3”
Oct. 7, 1946 “Wherever I Go”
Oct. 14, 1946 “Trigger Man”
Oct. 21, 1946 “Death’s Goblets”
Oct. 28, 1946 “The Heavy Death”
Nov. 4, 1946 “Nightmare”
Nov. 11, 1946 “The Dead Come Back”
Nov. 18, 1946 “Terror Out of Space”
Nov. 25, 1946 “The Creeper”
Dec. 2, 1946 “The Man Who Died
Yesterday”
Dec. 9, 1946 “Till Death Do Us Part”
Dec. 16, 1946 “Murder Is a Lonely Business”
Dec. 23, 1946 “The House Where Death
Lived”
Dec. 30, 1946 “The Kabbala”
[“…a tale about a professor whose
search for the supernatural brought
death…”]
Jan. 6, 1947 “The Ace of Death”
Jan. 13, 1947 “The House That Time Forgot”
Jan. 20, 1947 “Death Tolls a Requiem” ????
Jan. 27, 1947 “The Thirteenth Floor”
Feb. 3, 1947 “The Man With the Black
Beard”
Feb. 10, 1947 “The Black Curtain”
[“…a brain surgeon is murdered by
his patient…”]
Feb. 17, 1947 “The Outcast”
Feb. 24, 1947 “Terror”
March 10, 1947 “Death’s Worshipper”
March 17, 1947 “Death Tolls a Requiem”
March 24, 1947 “Red Wheels”
March 31, 1947 “The Ape Song”
[“…a weird drama about a man who
uses an ape to commit murder…”]
April 7, 1947 “The Line Is Dead”
April 14, 1947 “Death Ship”
April 21, 1947 “We Who Are About To Die”
April 28, 1947 “The Living Dead”
May 5, 1947 “Island of the Dead”
May 12, 1947 “The Corridor of Doom”
May 19, 1947 “City Morgue”
May 26, 1947 “The Dark Chamber”
June 2, 1947 “Death Is No End”
June 9, 1947 “The Dark Cellar”
June 16, 1947 “Murder Is Not Enough”
June 23, 1947 “The Face of the Dragon”
June 30, 1947 “The Man Who Died Again”
July 7, 1947 “Death Across the Board”
July 14, 1947 “Fatal Interruption”
July 21, 1947 “The Dispossessed”
[“…a story of Carnegie Hall and
gangsters…”]
July 28, 1947 “Appointment”
[“…the story of a crooked prize
fight…”]
Aug. 4, 1947 “Glory Train”
Aug. 11, 1947 “The Black Swan”
Aug. 18, 1947 “The Face”
Aug. 25, 1947 “Dead Man’s Turn”
[“…a man is accused of drowning a
girl he never met…”]
Sep. 1, 1947 “Memory of the Dead”
Sep. 8, 1947 “The Mark of Cain”
Additional titles with unknown dates:
“Murder Out of Mind”
MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (DISC SERIES ON
WOR-MUTUAL)
[Monday—9:30-10:00 PM]
May 1, 1950 “The Dead Hand”
May 8, 1950 “The Man With the Black
Beard”
May 15, 1950 “The Creeper”
May 22, 1950 “The Line Is Dead”
June 5, 1950 “Nightmare”
June 12, 1950 “The Secret of XR-3”
June 19, 1950 “The Black Curtain”
June 26, 1950 “City Morgue”
July 3, 1950
July 17, 1950 “Terror Out of Space”
July 24, 1950 “The Thirteenth Floor”
MYSTERIES BY CANDLELIGHT
Even as Boris Karloff was wrapping up his obligations as host and star of the Blue
network’s Creeps by Night, he was reported to be a possible star of another proposed
series.
MYSTERIES FROM ENGLAND
[New York Times] “An arrangement between WNEW and the BBC has been concluded
under which top detective fiction dramatized for the British audience will be rebroadcast
here from recordings…. Representative programs from three BBC series—Mystery and
Imagination, The Adventures of Julia and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—
have been selected by WNEW for presentation during the seventeen-week venture, to
open Aug. 10 at 8 P.M.BBC is also arranging a special round table with Dorothy Sayers,
John Dickson Carr and other writers in this field to precede the first program.”
ORIGINATION: WNEW, New York City, New York.
DURATION: August 10-?????, 1947.
PERSONNEL:
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MYSTERIES FROM ENGLAND
[????
Aug. 10, 1947 “The Adventures of Julia” [1]
THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER
“This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the
strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill
you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves, and be comfortable—if you
can!”
Long-running mystery / suspense / horror / science-fiction series.
ORIGINATION: WOR, New York City, New York (MBS)
DURATION: December 5, 1943-March 31, 1945 (first series), July 14, 1946-September
29, 1946 (second series), December 1, 1946-September 2, 1952 (third series).
PERSONNEL: Robert Arthur (scriptwriter, producer, director), Bradley Barker (animal
sound effects), Carl Caruso (announcer), David Kogan (scriptwriter, producer, director),
Dorothy Langley (sound effects), Jock MacGregor (producer-director), Maurice Tarplin
(voice of “The Mysterious Traveler”), Paul Taubman (music director), Doc Whipple
(organist).
CASTS: Frank Behrens, Ralph Bell, Lon Clark, Eric Dressler, Robert Dryden, John Gibson,
Wendell Holmes, Irene Hubbard, Leon Janney, Joseph Julian, Anna Karens, Ian Martin,
Jan Miner, Elizabeth Morgan, Bret Morrison, Eleanor Phelps, Bryna Raeburn, Frank
Readick, Stefan Schnabel, Helen Shields, Louis Sorin, Karl Swenson, Maurice Tarplin, Luis
Van Rooten, Gertrude Warner, Lawson Zerbe.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “House of Death” (1/30/44), “The Good Die Young” (3/27/44),
“Beware of Tomorrow” (4/9/44), “The Accusing Corpse” (4/16/44), “The Queen of the
Cats” (7/2/44), “Death Laughs Last” (9/24/44), “They Who Sleep” (1/6/45), “The Case of
Charles Foster” (3/10/45), “Death Comes for Adolph Hitler (3/24/45), “Murder Goes Free”
(3/31/45).
“Death Is the Visitor” (8/24/46), “No One on the Line” (9/1/46), “Symphony of Death”
(9/8/46), “If You Believe” (12/29/46), “New Year’s Nightmare” (1/5/47), “The Woman in
Black” (3/9/47), “Dark Destiny” (4/13/47),
THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER
[Sunday—7:00-7:30 PM]
Dec. 5, 1943 “The Hands That Killed”
Dec. 12, 1943 “Death at Storm House”
Dec. 19, 1943 “King of the World”
Dec. 26, 1943 “Devil Island”
Jan. 2, 1944 “The Clock Struck Midnight”
Jan. 9, 1944 “The Visiting Corpse”
Jan. 16, 1944 “The Strange Journal of
Professor Drake”
Jan. 23, 1944 “Murderer Unknown”
Jan. 30, 1944 “House of Death”
Feb. 6, 1944 “The Man Who Knew Too
Much”
Feb. 13, 1944 “To Have and To Hold”
Feb. 20, 1944 “The Ugliest Woman Alive”
Feb. 27, 1944 “The Good Die Young”
March 5, 1944 “Design for Death”
March 12, 1944 “Statement by the Accused”
March 19, 1944 “Welcome Home”
March 26, 1944 “Stranger in the House”
April 2, 1944 “Out of the Past”
April 9, 1944 “Beware of Tomorrow”
April 16, 1944 “The Accusing Corpse”
[Sunday—3:30-4:00 PM]
April 23, 1944 “Escape by Death”
April 30, 1944 “Murder Spins the Plot”
May 7, 1944 “I’ll Die Laughing”
May 14, 1944 “The Ghost Makers”
May 21, 1944 “The Man Who Could Vanish”
May 28, 1944 “In Loving Memory”
June 4, 1944 “Murder Must Be Paid For”
June 11, 1944 “Death Spins a Web”
June 18, 1944 “The Man With the Stolen
Face”
June 25, 1944 “Blood on the Moon”
July 2, 1944 “Queen of the Cats”
July 9, 1944 “Broadway, Here I Come”
July 16, 1944 “Death Rings Down the
Curtain”
July 23, 1944 “The Man Who Couldn’t Die”
July 30, 1944 “Till Death Do Us Part”
Aug. 6, 1944 “My Beloved Must Die”
Aug. 13, 1944 “Flight from Fear”
Aug. 20, 1944 “Time on My Hands”
Aug. 27, 1944 “The Unknown Enemy”
Sep. 10, 1944 “The Bell of Life”
Sep. 17, 1944 “A Dream of Death”
Sep. 24, 1944 “Death Laughs Last”
[????
Oct. 7, 1944 “The Man the Insects Hated”
Oct. 14, 1944 “Mind Over Murder”
Oct. 21, 1944 “Voice of the Dead”
Oct. 28, 1944 “Invitation to Death”
Nov. 11, 1944 “She Shall Have Music”
Nov. 18, 1944 “Journey With Death”
Nov. 25, 1944 “Footsteps of Fate”
Dec. 2, 1944 “The Cat and the Mouse”
Dec. 9, 1944 “Murder Without Crime”
Dec. 16, 1944 “You Only Die Once”
Dec. 23, 1944 “Christmas Present”
Dec. 30, 1944 “The Embarassing Corpse”
Jan. 6, 1945 “They Who Sleep”
Jan. 13, 1945 “Escape Through Time”
Jan. 20, 1945 “Letter from the Dead”
Jan. 27, 1945 “Death Needs a Witness”
Feb. 3, 1945 “Farewell Appearance”
Feb. 10, 1945 “Murder Is So Fatal”
Feb. 17, 1945 “Wanted for Murder”
Feb. 24, 1945 “Concerto for Death”
March 3, 1945 “Murder Is No Accident”
March 10, 1945 “The Case of Charles Foster”
March 17, 1945 “Blood Money”
March 24, 1945 “Death Comes for Adolph
Hitler”
March 31, 1945 “Murder Goes Free”
[Sunday—4:00-4:30 PM]
July 14, 1946 “Seven Years To Wait”
July 21, 1946 “It Might Be You”
July 28, 1946 “Summer Heat”
Aug. 4, 1946 “Death Is My Companion”
Aug. 11, 1946 “Mortal Clay”
Aug. 18, 1946 “Dynasty of Death”
Aug. 25, 1946 “Death Is the Visitor”
Sep. 1, 1946 “No One on the Line”
Sep. 8, 1946 “Symphony of Death”
Sep. 15, 1946 “As I Lie Dying”
Sep. 22, 1946 “The Strange Death of C.
Duvall”
Sep. 29, 1946 “Death Plays the Tune”
[?????
Dec. 1, 1946 “Friend of the Dead”
Dec. 8, 1946 “Death Is in the Wind”
Dec. 15, 1946 “Death Is a Dream”
Dec. 22, 1946 “Between Two Worlds”
Dec. 29, 1946 “If You Believe”
Jan. 5, 1947 “New Year’s Nightmare”
Jan. 12, 1947 “No Grave Can Hold Me”
Jan. 19, 1947 “Death Is the Dealer”
Jan. 26, 1947 “You Won’t Escape Me”
Feb. 2, 1947 “Voice from Tomorrow”
Feb. 9, 1947 “Five Miles Down”
Feb. 16, 1947 “Murder in Masquerade”
Feb. 23, 1947 “The Cat Died Twice”
March 2, 1947 “Dig My Grave Deep”
March 9, 1947 “The Woman in Black”
March 16, 1947 “Death Wears My Face”
March 23, 1947 “Voice of Murder”
March 30, 1947 “Death Is My Pursuer”
April 6, 1947 “You Only Hang Once”
April 13, 1947 “Dark Destiny”
April 20, 1947 “Flight from Fear”
April 27, 1947 “House of Silence”
May 4, 1947 “Destination Death”
May 11, 1947 “Design for Death”
May 18, 1947 “Die She Must”
May 25, 1947 “Mind Over Murder”
June 1, 1947 “She Walks With Death”
June 8, 1947 “I Died Last Night”
June 15, 1947 “Death Is the Judge”
June 22, 1947 “Meet Me at the Morgue”
June 29, 1947 “Murder Without Crime”
July 6, 1947 “Locomotive Ghost”
July 13, 1947 “Dark Is the Night”
July 20, 1947 “Their Cold Companion”
July 27, 1947 “The Man the Insects Hated”
Aug. 3, 1947 “I Dreamed of Dying”
Aug. 10, 1947 “Nightmare”
Aug. 24, 1947 “Murder Goes Free”
Aug. 31, 1947 “Murder at Their Heels”
Sep. 7, 1947 “Vacation from Life”
Sep. 14, 1947 “Big Payoff”
Sep. 21, 1947 “Island of Fear”
Sep. 28, 1947 “Deep Is My Grave”
[??????
Oct. 7, 1947 “Death Rides the Storm”
Oct. 14, 1947 “Death Is My Host”
Oct. 21, 1947 “Death Is My Caller”
Oct. 28, 1947 “Invitation to Death”
Nov. 4, 1947 “Murder at the Dawn of Time”
Nov. 11, 1947 “My Date Is With Death”
Nov. 25, 1947 “Death Guides My Hand”
Dec. 2, 1947 “Death Cancels All Debts”
Dec. 9, 1947 “Death Must Have Revenge”
Dec. 16, 1947 “Christmas Present”
Dec. 23, 1947 “Mr. Trimble’s Turnabout
Christmas”
Dec. 30, 1947 “Escape to 2480”
Jan. 6, 1948 “Death Is at the Throttle”
Jan. 13, 1948 “Death Must Wait”
Jan. 20, 1948 “The Man in the Black Derby”
Jan. 27, 1948 “Death Has a Vacancy”
Feb. 3, 1948 “Life Is But a Dream”
Feb. 10, 1948 “I’ll Dance on Your Coffin”
Feb. 17, 1948 “Chance of a Lifetime”
Feb. 24, 1948 “The Man Who Died Twice”
March 2, 1948 “The Ivory Elephant”
March 9, 1948 “Alibi for Murder”
March 16, 1948 “They Struck It Rich”
March 23, 1948 “Seven Years To Wait”
March 30, 1948 “Death Is a Dream”
April 6, 1948 “When Killers Meet”
April 13, 1948 “They’ll Never Believe Me”
April 20, 1948 “Murder in Jazztime”
April 27, 1948 “The Little Man Who Wasn’t
There”
May 4, 1948 “They Who Sleep”
May 11, 1948 “I Won’t Die Alone”
May 18, 1948 “Death Writes a Letter”
May 25, 1948 “Death Is My Co-Pilot”
June 1, 1948 “Strange Voyage”
June 8, 1948 “Murder Is My Business”
June 15, 1948 “Queen of the Cats”
June 22, 1948 “Zero Hour”
June 29, 1948 “You Only Die Once”
July 6, 1948 “The Man Who Vanished”
July 13, 1948 “Bury Her Deep”
July 20, 1948 “The Chase”
July 27, 1948 “The Unexpected”
Aug. 3, 1948 “Terror by Night”
Aug. 10, 1948 “The Visiting Corpse”
Aug. 24, 1948 “Murder by Proxy”
Aug. 31, 1948 “Murder Has a Price”
Sep. 7, 1948 “Unsolved”
Sep. 14, 1948 “Dance of Death”
Sep. 21, 1948 “Death Has a Thousand Faces”
Sep. 28, 1948 “Hideout”
Oct. 5, 1948 “Death Rings Down the
Curtain”
Oct. 12, 1948 “Broadway, Here I Come”
Oct. 19, 1948 “Death Has a Voice”
Oct. 26, 1948 “Welcome Home”
[Thursday
Nov. 11, 1948 “Till Death Do Us Part”
Nov. 18, 1948 “Death Wears a False Face”
Nov. 25, 1948 “Agreement To Die”
Dec. 2, 1948 “Farewell Appearance”
Dec. 9, 1948 “Signed in Blood”
Dec. 16, 1948 “House of Death”
Dec. 23, 1948 “A Town Named Christmas”
Dec. 30, 1948 “It’s Later Than You Think”
Jan. 6, 1949 “The Devil and the Deep Blue
Sea”
Jan. 13, 1949 “The Accusing Corpse”
Jan. 20, 1949 “Death Is My Partner”
Jan. 27, 1949 “The Ghost Makers”
Feb. 3, 1949 “Death Spins a Web”
Feb. 10, 1949 “Tonight I Die”
Feb. 17, 1949 “Collector’s Item”
Feb. 24, 1949 “Time Is Running Out”
March 3, 1949 “Murder at the Mardi Gras”
March 10, 1949 “The Dead Can’t Testify”
March 17, 1949 “Murder Points a Finger”
March 24, 1949 “I’ll Die Laughing”
[Tuesday—
March 29, 1949 “Death Has a Cold Breath”
April 5, 1949 “Murder Makes Music”
April 12, 1949 “They Died Screaming”
April 19, 1949 “Out of the Past”
April 26, 1949 “The Hot Seat”
May 3, 1949 “Murder Begins at Home”
May 10, 1949 “Escape into the Future”
May 17, 1949 “The Corpse Comes Home”
May 24, 1949 “Behind the Locked Door”
May 31, 1949 “Meet Me at the Morgue”
June 7, 1949 “Die Once, Die Twice”
June 14, 1949 “No Grave Can Hold Me”
June 21, 1949 “Murder Has a Voice”
June 28, 1949 “She Walks With Death”
July 5, 1949 “The Case of Charles Foster”
[“…A killer gets the ironic
treatment… He gets by with killing
his first wife, then is wrongfully
accused of doing in the second…”]
July 12, 1949 “The Locomotive Ghost”
July 19, 1949 “Murder Is So Fatal”
July 26, 1949 “Voice from Tomorrow”
Aug. 2, 1949 “The Planet Zevius”
Aug. 9, 1949 “Brain Guy”
Aug. 16, 1949 “Murder Spins the Plot”
Aug. 23, 1949 “Why Don’t You Die?”
Aug. 30, 1949 “The Treasure of Superstition
Mountain”
Sep. 6, 1949 “Flight from Fear”
Sep. 13, 1949 “The Cat Died Twice”
Sep. 20, 1949 “Destination Death”
Sep. 27, 1949 “You Only Hang Once”
Oct. 4, 1949 “The Knife”
Oct. 11, 1949 “The Last Survivor”
[“…Mysterious Traveler lets his
imagination go hog-wild in a fantasy
about a man who’s returning to earth
in a spaceship, peers through
porthole, sees earth vanish in a
cosmic blast; problem, where to go
from there?…”]
Oct. 18, 1949 “Nightmare House”
[“…A woman takes her dream to a
psychiatrist…”]
Oct. 25, 1949 “No One on the Line”
Nov. 1, 1949 “The Witness”
Nov. 8, 1949 “Appointment With Death”
Nov. 15, 1949 “The Mirror of Count
Cagliostro”
Nov. 22, 1949 “Mortal Clay”
Dec. 6, 1949 “Why Don’t You Stay Dead?”
[“…story of a drunken actor whose
wife keeps asking, ‘Why don’t you
die?’…”]
Dec. 13, 1949 “The Man No One Knew”
[Announced as “The Man from
Venus.”]
Dec. 20, 1949 “Luck of the Irish”
[“…A man buys questionable stock
certificates from a beggar and they
turn out to be valuable…”]
Dec. 27, 1949 “Death Comes at Night”
Jan. 3, 1950 “Golden Future”
[“…A press association teletype goes
haywire and prints the ‘news of
tomorrow’…”]
Jan. 10, 1950 “Survival of the Fittest”
[“The Blind Alley” was the title
announced.]
Jan. 17, 1950 “Shadows in the Night”
Jan. 24, 1950 “The Dead Man’s Story”
Jan. 31, 1950 “Extra! Extra!”
Feb. 7, 1950 “The Man Who Tried To Save
Lincoln”
Feb. 14, 1950 “The Big Hand”
Feb. 21, 1950 “Double Sixes”
Feb. 28, 1950 “Journey into the Unknown”
March 7, 1950 “Death Rides the Wind”
March 14, 1950 “The Big Brain”
March 21, 1950 “Dark Underworld”
March 28, 1950 “No Grave So Deep”
April 4, 1950 “The Man from Singapore”
April 11, 1950 “Flight from Tomorrow”
April 18, 1950 “Death at Fifty Fathoms”
April 25, 1950 “I Died Last Night”
May 2, 1950 “S.O.S.”
May 9, 1950 “The Big Dive”
May 16, 1950 “Voices at Midnight”
May 23, 1950 “Lady in Red”
May 30, 1950 “Beyond the Law”
June 6, 1950 “Murder Without Crime”
June 13, 1950 “Death Has Two Faces”
June 20, 1950 “Die She Must”
June 27, 1950 “Journey Through Time”
July 4, 1950 “Five Miles Down”
July 11, 1950 “Ring Twice for Death”
July 18, 1950 “Killer Return Home”
July 25, 1950 “Gun for Hire”
Aug. 1, 1950 “Footsteps Behind You”
Aug. 8, 1950 “Blood Money”
Aug. 15, 1950 “Vacation from Life”
Aug. 22, 1950 “Nightmare”
Aug. 29, 1950 “Murder Has a Price”
Sep. 5, 1950 “Mind Over Murder”
Sep. 12, 1950 “Tomorrow Is Forver”
Sep. 19, 1950 “Design for Death”
Sep. 26, 1950 “Into the Unknown”
Oct. 3, 1950 “What’s in It for Me?
Oct. 10, 1950 “The Final Hour”
Oct. 17, 1950 “The Cat’s Paw”
Oct. 24, 1950 “House of Silence”
Oct. 31, 1950 “Their Cold Companion”
Nov. 14, 1950 “The Big Money”
Nov. 21, 1950 “Escape to 2430”
Nov. 28, 1950 “Thirteen Steps to Death”
Dec. 5, 1950 “Two Lethal Ladies”
Dec. 12, 1950 “Present for Santa”
Dec. 19, 1950 “The Survivors”
Dec. 26, 1950 “Between Two Worlds”
Jan. 2, 1951 “Never Say Die”
Jan. 9, 1951 “Death Cancels All Debts”
Jan. 16, 1951 “Diamond Fever”
Jan. 23, 1951 “Easy, Easy Money”
Jan. 30, 1951 “I’ll Dance on Your Grave”
Feb. 6, 1951 “Death Is But a Dream”
Feb. 13, 1951 “Money in the Bank”
Feb. 20, 1951 “When Killers Meet”
Feb. 27, 1951 “The Ivory Elephant”
March 6, 1951 “World of Tomorrow”
March 13, 1951 “Knives of Death”
March 20, 1951 “A Coffin for Charley”
March 27, 1951 “The Man Who Died Twice”
April 3, 1951 “X Marks the Spot”
April 10, 1951 “50,000 B.C.”
April 17, 1951 “The Little Man Who Wasn’t
There”
April 24, 1951 “Chance of a Lifetime”
May 1, 1951 “The Planet Zevius”
May 15, 1951 “Death in the Swamps”
May 22, 1951 “Judgment Day”
May 29, 1951 “Fatal Mistake”
June 5, 1951 “The Unexpected”
June 12, 1951 “Big Jackpot”
June 19, 1951 “Another Man’s Murder”
June 26, 1951 “I Won’t Walk Alone”
July 3, 1951 “The Restless Skeleton”
July 10, 1951 “Death Writes a Letter”
July 17, 1951 “They’ll Never Believe Me”
July 24, 1951 “Visitors from Infinity”
Aug. 7, 1951 “Terror by Night”
Aug. 14, 1951 “The Chase”
Aug. 21, 1951 “When the Dead Return”
Aug. 28, 1951 “Fire in the Sky”
Sep. 4, 1951 “Death Has a Thousand Faces”
Sep. 11, 1951 “Strange Destiny”
Sep. 18, 1951 “Some Only Sleep”
Sep. 25, 1951 “Four Fatal Callers”
Oct. 2, 1951 “What Happened Last Night?”
Oct. 9, 1951 “The Man Who Knew
Everything”
Oct. 16, 1951 “Death Needs a Substitute”
Oct. 23, 1951 “This Is Murder Calling”
Oct. 30, 1951 “Miracle on Tenth Avenue”
Nov. 6, 1951 “Behind the Locked Door”
Nov. 13, 1951 “Speak of the Devil”
Nov. 20, 1951 “The Most Famous Man in
The World”
Nov. 27, 1951 “Murder Has a Price”
Dec. 4, 1951 “Token of Friendship”
Dec. 11, 1951 “Hideout”
Dec. 18, 1951 “Make Mine Murder”
Dec. 25, 1951 “Christmas Story”
Jan. 1, 1952 “Stamps from Eldorado”
Jan. 8, 1952 “It’s Only Money”
Jan. 15, 1952 “Key Witness”
Jan. 22, 1952 “Change of Address”
Jan. 29, 1952 “Stranger in the House”
Feb. 5, 1952 “The Man Who Frightened
Himself”
Feb. 12, 1952 ‘Death Plays the Tune”
Feb. 19, 1952 “Strange New World”
Feb. 26, 1952 “Appointment to Die”
March 4, 1952 “The Betrayer”
March 11, 1952 “Man of Destiny”
March 18, 1952 “The Black Door”
March 25, 1952 “Two of a Kind”
April 1, 1952 “April Fool”
April 8, 1952 “Money Isn’t Everything”
April 15, 1952 “Murder in Haste”
April 22, 1952 “The Fourth Dimension”
April 29, 1952 “Murder in 2952”
May 6, 1952 “The Gun Fighter”
May 13, 1952 “Death Rides the Storm”
May 20, 1952 “In the Depths”
May 27, 1952 “Wheels of Murder”
June 3, 1952 “The Haunted Trailer”
June 17, 1952 “The Green Death”
June 24, 1952 “When Dead Men Speak”
July 1, 1952 “Bird of Prey”
July 15, 1952 “Sands of Death”
July 22, 1952 “Time Is Running Out”
July 29, 1952 “The Big Fog”
Aug. 5, 1952 “Death Points a Finger”
Aug. 12, 1952 “Temporary Corpse”
Aug. 19, 1952 “Day of Reckoning”
Aug. 26, 1952 “The Big One”
Sep. 2, 1952 “The Treasure of Superstition
Mountain”
MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
Described as “new and revived radio plays on fantastic and imaginative themes.”
ORIGINATION: Home Service, London (BBC).
DURATION: November 1, 1945-February 14, 1946.
[NOTE: Recordings of six broadcasts from this series were run in the summer of 1947 on
New York station WNEW as part of a series of BBC plays entitled Mysteries from
England.]
PERSONNEL: Leonard Cottrell (scriptwriter), Douglas Cleverdon (scriptwriter, producer),
Paul Dehn (scriptwriter), Felix Felton (scriptwriter, producer), Wilfrid Grantham
(producer), Robert G. Newton (scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
[Thursday—9:30-10:00 PM]
Nov. 1, 1945 “Golden Dragon City” (by Lord
Dunsany)
Nov. 8, 1945 “The Celestial Omnibus” (by
E. M. Forster)
Nov. 15, 1945 “Music from the Sea” (by
Walter de la Mare)
Nov. 22, 1945 “The Rose-wood Door” (by
Oliver Onions)
Nov. 29, 1945 “The Picture” (by Gwendoline
Foyle) / “The Rocking Horse
Winner” (by D. H. Lawrence)
Dec. 6, 1945 “The Church by the Sea” (by
Hugh Stewart)
Dec. 13, 1945 “Lord Mountdrago” (by W.
Somerset Maugham)
Dec. 20, 1945 “Chinese Magic” (by Algernon
Blackwood)
Jan. 3, 1946 “Evening Primrose” (by John
Collier)
Jan. 10, 1946 “The Nurse’s Tale” (by H. R.
Wakefield) / “Thursday
Evenings” (by E. F. Benson)
Jan. 17, 1946 “Confession” (by Algernon
Blackwood and Wilfred Wilson)
Jan. 24, 1946 “The Fall” (by Stacy Aumonier)
Jan. 31, 1946 “Uncle Arthur” (by John
Pudney)
Feb. 7, 1946 “Warsaw Fantasy” (by Phyllis
Austin)
Feb. 14, 1946 “The Boy Who Saw Through”
(by John Pudney) / “Blind
Man’s Buff” (by H. R.
Wakefield)
MYSTERY BEFORE MIDNIGHT
[Bridgeport Telegram] “…WABC radio’s new chills-thrills nightly series… Unusual in its
presentation of radio drama at this late hour, the program will tell a complete half-hour
story each evening.”
[Variety] “WABC, N.Y., has purchased several half-hour radio mysteries from various
producers to fill a time of night in New York when currently the chief competition is
from platter spinners.”
ORIGINATION: WABC, New York City, New York (ABC).
DURATION: September 13, 1954-[January 18], 1955
PERSONNEL:
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
MYSTERY BEFORE MIDNIGHT
[Monday-Thursday—11:15-11:45 PM; Friday—11:30 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
Sep. 13, 1954 “Death at Stormhouse”
[“…a drama mixing the supernatural
and the macabre…tells of a beautiful
woman who was so jealous that even
the grave could not bring her peace.
When her husband John married again,
his new wife pays a penalty neither of
them had counted on…”]
Sep. 14, 1954
Sep. 15, 1954
Sep. 16, 1954
Sep. 17, 1954 “Trail to New York”
MYSTERY IN THE AIR
“Each week at this hour, Peter Lorre brings us the excitement of the great stories of the
strange and unusual—of dark and compelling masterpieces culled from the four corners of
world literature.”
Peter Lorre finally got his own series.
John Crosby: “…these tales will be full of spiders, corpses, and psychiatry of one sort or
another. Peter Lorre with his W’s where his R’s should be, his velvety whispering and his
intense interest in murder will be in all of them. They couldn’t get a better man for the
job.”
And nobody could throw themselves into a pathological character more intensely than
Lorre. “One night he got so excited he threw his script away,” remembered Peggy
Webber, “and we spent the whole next scene trying to ad-lib our way out of it.”
“It’s an odd thing,” observed Port Arthur News radio columnist Grace Foote, visiting in
Hollywood, “to see how nonchalant ushers and usherettes at the NBC studio in
Hollywood are when it comes time to airwave headliners in general—all except one, and
that’s Peter Lorre. Since Lorre took to the air…the young NBC employees, most of them
dramatic students, crowd into the clients’ booth at the studio and watch in hushed
silence as Lorre performs at rehearsals each week.”
HP at the mvaldemar.blogspot observes: “…de Maupassant’s deservedly famous story
of an invisible Brazilian soul-vampire kind of peters out (no pun intended) at the end.
Our Man from Vienna knows this, and in a masterstroke of comedic Stanislavskian
improvisation, Lorre salvages de Maupassant’s story, busts open radio’s fourth wall
(does radio have a fourth wall?), and skewers his own Hollywood image.”
ORIGINATION: KFI, Los Angeles, California (NBC).
DURATION: July 3-September 25, 1947.
PERSONNEL: Paul Baron (musical director), Don Bernard (producer), William T. Johnson
(scriptwriter), Cal Kuhl (director), Herbert Clyde Lewis (scriptwriter), Peter Lorre (host,
lead actor), Tom McKnight (scriptwriter), Henry “Harry” Morgan (“The Voice,”), Michael
Roy (announcer), Douglas Whitney (scriptwriter), Frank Wilson (scriptwriter).
GUEST STAR: Agnes Moorehead (7/24/47, 8/14/47).
CASTS: Bob Andersen, Lynn Allen, Conrad Binyon, Lyle Bond, John Brown, Bob Bruce,
Herb Butterfield, Floyd Caton, Ed Chandler, Ken Christy, Hans Conried, Lois Corbett,
Howard Culver, Jack Douglas, Jack Edwards Jr., Barbara Eiler, Stan Farrar, Monte Fraser,
Barbara Fuller, Gordon Gray, Jerry Hausner, Joseph Kearns, Cyrus Kendall, Mary Lansing,
Raymond Lawrence, Irvin Lee, Lucille Meredith, Henry “Harry” Morgan, Jane Morgan,
Phyllis Christine Morris, Frank Nelson, Ruth Perrott, Alan Reed, Rolfe Sedan, Gloria Ann
Simpson, Eric Snowden, Russ Stewart, Bill Stulla, Russell Thorson, Lurene Tuttle, Luis Van
Rooten, Herb Vigran, Stanley Waxman, Peggy Webber, Lynn Whitney, Horace Willard,
Ben Wright.
SPONSOR: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Camel Cigarettes).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (7/3/47), “The Marvelous Barastro”
(8/7/47), “The Lodger” (8/14/47), “The Horla” (8/21/47), “Beyond Good and Evil”
(8/28/47), “The Mask of Medusa” (9/4/47), “The Queen of Spades” (9/11/47), “The Black
Cat” (9/18/47), “Crime and Punishment” (9/25/47).
[NOTE: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (7/3/47) is held by the Library of Congress, but does not yet
circulate among collectors.]
MYSTERY IN THE AIR
[Thursday—6:00-6:30 PM]
July 3, 1947 “The Tell-Tale Heart” (by
Edgar Allan Poe)
July 10, 1947 “Leiningen and the Ants” (by
Carl Stephenson)
[“…the story of a race of warrior
ants near the Amazon River…”]
July 17, 1947 “Touch of Your Hand”
[“…story of a moody trapeze artist
and his beautiful young wife…”]
July 24, 1947 “The Interruption”
[“…W. W. Jacobs’ classic chiller
about a wife murderer.”]
July 31, 1947 “Nobody Loves Me”
Aug. 7, 1947 “The Marvelous Barastro” (by
Ben Hecht)
Aug. 14, 1947 “The Lodger” (by Mrs. Belloc
Lowndes)
Aug. 21, 1947 “The Horla” (by Guy de
Maupassant)
Aug. 28, 1947 “Beyond Good and Evil”
Sep. 4, 1947 “The Mask of Medusa” (by
Nelson Bond)
Sep. 11, 1947 “The Queen of Spades” (by
Alexander Pushkin)
Sep. 18, 1947 “The Black Cat” (by Edgar
Allan Poe)
Sep. 25, 1947 “Crime and Punishment” (by
Feodor Dostoevsky)
`
N
LAS NARRACIONES TERRORIFICAS DEL “MONJE LOCO”
This series title was found in 1951 Mexico City newspapers. Uncertain as to whether or
not this constitutes a different series. It was still on XEQ at this time, running in a 10-
minute slot across the board (Monday-through-Friday).
ORIGINATION: XEQ, Mexico City, Distrito Federal.
DURATION: Circa 1951.
PERSONNEL: Salvador Carrasco (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Carlos del Prado
(scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
NAZARENO CRUZ Y EL LOBO
“Later, we make a work of Omar Aladio and Carlos Ortea Peace, When the Indian cries. It
was a goal superior to both previous. That is finished and nonsabiamos that to put.
Then, one night of rain, of much cold, we met to think about a bulincito of the street
Current, where Chiappe escribia. That we do, that we do not do.. good, we did not
decide anything. I go out with much cold, I am walking by Currents, and I arrive until the
Premier cinema. Then I see in the poster: “the human wolf”, with Claude Reims, Maria
Oupenskaia and Lon Chaney, son; heating. I enter to see pelicula, very pretty, in colors,
made very well; of that famous legend that septimo son man bitten by a wolf becomes
lobizon, in the full moon-lits night, Fridays. I see pelicula, and I think, if this could be
transferred to the Argentine field, serious extraordinary. Coat another entrance and I
return it to see. Wise I who in my house, tapeworm books that habia bought in San
Clemente of the Tuyu, that was all then medano, in one libreria old. It was a lot of
country books, that interested me in the subjects that estabamos doing; despues served
much to me. And agreed me of a very small book, that was called “the man dog”, that
not habia opened at least. – Searching carefully in the thin bibliotequita that tapeworm,
encontre.”
“Coat that Hbro, and I see that argentine is the history of lobizon in the field” “That is
to say, alii exponia as the legend became segiin the regions, and the relative were
called” “, in Santa Fe; “lobizon” in the Chaco; the “man-dog” in Tu-cuman... I go with the
idea to the following day, and I say to him to Chiappe: - Sight, I encontre this. When
arriving with the very good idea, them parecio. Then we thought, that I title we put to
him. Chiappe says: - This individual sufrio like a Christ... Audon answers: - and, ponele
Nazareno... I say: - a Christ that I take the cross... Audon: - Nazareno Cross... Chiappe
adds: - and the wolf. Asi I am conformed I title: Nazareno Cross and the wolf. BS: Now
this is called creation collective. MIRANDA: In that time he was a group of three, who
estabamos thinking together. Then we make Nazareno Cross, with the collaboration of
the three, but the Chiappe company.”
Leonardo Favio: “Si, pero el radioteatro no tenia mucho que ver con lo que fue la
pelicula. Ese radioteatro era la historia de un tipo que se transforma en lobo, se esconde
en los pajonales, sale en la noche de luna llena y se come las ovejas. Y, ademas, estaba
el personaje de una paisana que se llamaba Griselda, y que lo hacia sufrir a Nazareno
por amor.”
ORIGINATION: Argentina.
DURATION: 1952-?.
PERSONNEL: Juan Carlos Chiappe (scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
NICOLAS GOGOL ET LE DIABLE PITTORESQUE
“Sous ce titre, le producteur Stanislas Fumet qui sortait de son domaine de
predilection—il fut le producteur de la celebre Analyse spectrale de l’occident—proposa
en 1962-1963 l’adaptation de deux oeuvres fantastiques—l’une signee Cazotte, l’autre
Nicolas Gogol—qui avaient en commun un meme personage central: le diable en
personne!… Quand a l’emission sur Gogol, il y fut donne notamment une adaptation de
La Nuit de Noel.”
ORIGINATION: France III, Paris.
DURATION: September 29-October 27, 1962.
PERSONNEL: Raphael Fumet (music), Stanislas Fumet (scriptwriter, producer).
CASTS: Louis Arbessier, C. Cler, Pierre Constant, G. Cour, Alain Cuny, P. Dehelly, Rene
Farabet, Jacques Fayet, Raymond Jourdan, J. Lassalle, J.-P. Lituac, Pascal Mazzotti, G.
Morel, N. Nerval, Yves Peneau, Claude Pieplu, J. Riviere, Jean Topart, S. Vannier, Rosy
Varte, R. Vattier, Cl. Versace, A. Weber.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
NIGHT MUST FALL
Emlyn Williams’ play…
ORIGINATION: Various.
DURATION: Various.
PERSONNEL: Betty Davies (producer—1969), Peggy Wells (scriptwriter—1969).
EXTANT RECORDINGS:
SATURDAY NIGHT THEATRE (RADIO 4, LONDON)
[Saturday—8:30-9:58 PM]
June 7, 1969 “Night Must Fall”
NIGHTMARE
[Davenport Democrat and Leader, August 21, 1949] “Composer Igor Stravinsky has been
retained to write original music for the new radio series, tentatively titled ‘Nightmare,’ in
which some of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories will be included.”
NIGHTMARE
“Now, courtesy of a John Norman Production bowing at 10:30 PM Thursday on KTHT,
you can get your nightmares whipped up as fast as your breakfast cereal. Monday
through Friday, a five-minute bedtime story for folks who like to dream violently will be
told by Mr. Norman, scored and emphasized on the organ by Bruce Barkis and written
by Gene Miller, the Houston actor. The capsule hunk of horror will immediately follow
the Sports Roundup each night.” (Phylys Greene, The Houston Post, May 1, 1952)
ORIGINATION: KTHT, Houston, Texas.
DURATION: May 1, 1952-[??? ??], 1953.
PERSONNEL: Bruce Barkis (organist), Gene Miller (scriptwriter), John Norman (producer,
narrator).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Race of Monsters,” Man kills wife on boat, Man waits to kill
dominating father, “Boa Constrictor,” “Fear of Heights,” “The Hand,” “Murder in a
Crowd,” “Two for Davy Jones,” “Wrong Death,” “The Rat,” “Hard-Headed.”
NIGHTMARE
[Monday-Friday—10:30-10:35 PM]
May 1, 1952
May 2, 1952
May 5-9, 1952
May 12-16, 1952
May 19-23, 1952
May 26-30, 1952
June 2-6, 1952
June 9-13, 1952
June 16-20, 1952
June 23, 1952 “Murder on the Flying
Trapeze”
June 24-27, 1952
June 30-July 4, 1952
July 7-11, 1952
July 14-18, 1952
July 21-25, 1952
July 28-Aug. 1, 1952
Aug. 4-8, 1952
Aug. 11, 1952
Aug. 12, 1952
Aug. 13, 1952
Aug. 14, 1952
[“…A rancher’s wits are unherded
until a horse of another color shows
up…”]
Aug. 15, 1952
Aug. 18, 1952
Aug. 19, 1952
Aug. 20, 1952
Aug. 21, 1952
Aug. 22, 1952 “Terror on the High Seas”
[“…a squall and a sea monster…”]
Aug. 25, 1952
[“…a mistreated lover receives a
final insult at the hands of his
beloved…”]
Aug. 26, 1952
Aug. 27, 1952
Aug. 28, 1952
[“…they all ran after the farmer’s
wife and cut off their tale for ending
her life…”]
Aug. 29, 1952
Sep. 1-5, 1952
[Monday-Friday—9:55-10:00 PM]
Sep. 8-12, 1952
Sep. 15-19, 1952
Sep. 22-26, 1952
Sep. 29-Oct. 3, 1952
Oct. 6-10, 1952
Oct. 13-17, 1952
Oct. 20-24, 1952
Oct. 27-31, 1952
Nov. 3, 1952
Nov. 4, 1952
Nov. 5, 1952
[“…a wife killer…”]
Nov. 6, 1952
Nov. 7, 1952
Nov. 10-14, 1952
Nov. 17-21, 1952
Nov. 24, 1952
Nov. 25, 1952
Nov. 26, 1952
[“…story of a man who tries to kill
his invalid wife…”]
Nov. 27, 1952
Nov. 28, 1952
Dec. 1, 1952
[“…story of a love triangle murder
with a circus background…”]
Dec. 2, 1952
Dec. 3, 1952
[“…story of a man who goes crazy
with rage after his wife leaves him.”]
Dec. 4, 1952
[“…story of a hunter paralyzed with
fear as a rattlesnake closes in for the
kill…”]
Dec. 5, 1952
Dec. 8, 1952
Dec. 9, 1952
Dec. 10, 1952
[“…after planning for three years, a
convict tries to escape…”]
Dec. 11, 1952
Dec. 12, 1952
Dec. 15, 1952
[“…story of a shipwreck victim
clinging to a bit of wreckage…”]
Dec. 16, 1952
[“…a bank robber…”]
Dec. 17, 1952
[“…a man who kills his wife while
they are still on their honeymoon.”]
Dec. 18, 1952
[“…a man who gets revenge on the
mob which tarred and feathered
him…”]
Dec. 19, 1952
[“…two hunters on a trip into the
Canadian woods—one of them a
murderer…”]
Dec. 22, 1952
Dec. 23, 1952
[“…a gang boss in his last few
minutes in death row…”]
Dec. 24, 1952
[“…revolution in South America
proves livelihood and death for a
smuggler…”]
Dec. 25, 1952
[“…power politics in the movies,
with an assistant director trying to
gain control of a picture…”]
Dec. 26, 1952
[“…greed leads a trapper into an
unexplored swamp which provides
its own traps…”]
Dec. 29, 1952-Jan. 2, 1953
Jan. 5-9, 1953
Jan. 12, 1953
[“…a policeman battles six killers
with one bullet and one idea…”]
Jan. 13, 1953
[“…gang war in the underworld…”]
Jan. 14, 1953
[“…a depraved organist wanders
through a cathedral determined to
kill…”]
Jan. 15, 1953
[“…a stolen idol and a thief pursued
by the sound of voodoo drums…”]
Jan. 16, 1953
Jan. 16, 1953 [“…a liquor store bandit is trapped
by a bottle…”]
Jan. 19-23, 1953 ?
NIGHTMARE
“Out of the dark of night, from the shadows of the senses, comes this—the fantasy of fear.”
This series starred Peter Lorre as host and narrator (with occasional starring roles in the
stories) and featured a mixture of crime and horror dramas.
“Mutual’s nightly mystery series with ‘Counterspy’ on Monday; ‘High Adventure’ with
George Sanders, Tuesday; ‘Bulldog Drummond’ with Basil Rathbone, Wednesday;
‘Nightmare’ with Peter Lorre, Thursday and ‘Four-Star Theater’ with Madeleine Carroll on
Friday…”
[Gene Plotnik, BROADCASTING review: “The future of ‘Nightmare,’ as well as the other
new shows Mutual brought forth with its now-doomed network option plan, is at the
moment uncertain. But this Peter Lorre vehicle definitely merits continuation. It is slick
and bewitching radio programming. It is that eerie sort of stream-of-consciousness
drama for which radio has always been so effective.
“In the stanza caught, Lorre played a psycho driven by murder guilt. The form that his
fantasies took neatly offset the sordid gloom of the setting (calliope music followed by
the voice of a little girl in the background singing ‘I Know a Secret’). The music and
sound accompaniment of Lorre’s reading skillfully played up the mounting pace. A
steady rhythm and constant footsteps came over while he was trying to catch the little
girl of his imagination.
“The wind-up was in an asylum, where the man the hero imagined he’s murdered
offered to foot his psychiatry bill.”
The 8/25/54 broadcast, “If I Should Die Before I Wake,” has been falsely identified by
some researchers as based on the Cornell Woolrich story of the same name. The press
release description indicates, however, a completely different plot: “…story of a police
sergeant who begins falling asleep every time he hears the man he’s after.”
ORIGINATION: WOR, New York City, New York (MBS).
[NOTE: Transcription recordings were made in Hollywood.]
DURATION: October 1, 1953-September 29, 1954.
PERSONNEL: Peter Lorre (host-narrator, occasional roles), Sandy Marshall (director),
Bob Monroe (producer), William K. Wells Jr. (scriptwriter).
CASTS: Connie Lemke, et al.
SPONSOR: Co-op sponsorship.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Purple Cloud” (11/19/53), “Coincidence” (11/26/53), “The
Hollow Footsteps” (2/3/54), “The Chance of a Ghost” (3/31/54), “The Leach” (prob.
4/7/54), “The Hybrid” (4/14/54).
[NOTE: “Coincidence” is erroneously listed in some collectors’ catalogs under the title
“Hemmed In by Death.”]
NIGHTMARE
[Thursday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Oct. 1, 1953
Oct. 8, 1953 “The Swamp”
[“…Peter Lorre airs a story about
‘The Swamp’ in Georgia’s
Okefenokee territory…”]
Oct. 15, 1953 “The Case of Adam Greene”
[“…The story involves a Communist
tracked down by a Senate
investigating committee. The man
tries to escape by disappearing from
the face of the earth…”]
Oct. 22, 1953
[Announced: “The Secret Corner”]
Oct. 29, 1953 “The Last Word”
[“…A man tires of his wife’s small
talk and takes a course to learn how
mentally to block her chatter…”]
Nov. 5, 1953 “Letdown”
[“…one about an airline pilot’s cabin
on a foggy night when everything
goes wrong and he is eventually
trapped inside…”]
Nov. 12, 1953 “The Secret Corner”
[“…A mad artist’s plan for murder is
revealed…”]
Nov. 19, 1953 “The Purple Cloud”
[“An odd series of circumstances
leads to confusion… Radio-activity,
a parade and a wife on a shopping
tour provide the strange formula…”]
Nov. 26, 1953 “Coincidence”
Dec. 3, 1953 “How To Lose Friends”
Dec. 10, 1953 “Food for Thought”
[“…A man with an insatiable hunger
which turns his life into a nightmare,
provides the psychological horror for
Peter Lorre…”]
Dec. 17, 1953 “The Angry Man”
[“…’The Angry Man’ faces a choice
—kill his brother or turn against his
country…”]
Dec. 24, 1953
[Dec. 31, 1953 Cheryl Morris lists “The
Frightened Frenchman” ???
[Wednesday—8:00-8:30 PM]
Jan. 6, 1954 “Traffic Jam”
[“…a truck driver with a perfect
record suddenly finds himelf
involved in trouble…”]
Jan. 13, 1954 “Invaders”
[“…a scientist discovers thousands
of invisible men roaming the earth,
readying to strike…”]
Jan. 20, 1954 “Not My Day”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Jan. 27, 1954 “Novel Idea”
[“…An author with a ‘novel idea’
commits the ‘perfect crime’—until he
decides to write a book about it…”]
Feb. 3, 1954 “The Hollow Footsteps”
[“…A hoax involving a ghost is
solved by a wife who knows her
husband’s roving eye…”]
Feb. 10, 1954 “It Runs Down Hill”
[“…one about a man who wanted a
little country hide-away…”]
Feb. 17, 1954 “Triple Trouble”
[“…one concerning a ‘trigimist’ and
his problems, his biggest headache
occurring when all three wives meet
face to face…”]
Feb. 24, 1954
[“…George and Mary Brown, an
ordinary couple, fall in love with an
old house, but little do they know
that the house will lead to a
nightmare…”]
March 3, 1954 “The Pyramid”
[“…a man’s girl friend has
disappeared…”]
March 10, 1954 “All That Glitters”
[“…story revolving around a request
for a loan…”]
March 17, 1954 “The Strange Voyage of
Captain Mundsen”
March 24, 1954 “The Caves of Fear”
[“…Peter Lorre goes into the realm
of insanity when he narrates ‘The
Caves of Fear’…”]
March 31, 1954 “The Chance of a Ghost”
[“…tale of life on the séance
circuit…”]
April 7, 1954 “The Leech” (prob.)
April 14, 1954 “The Hybrid”
[“…story of a man who tries to grow
new and unusual plants, eventually
developing one with killing
powers…”]
April 21, 1954 “The Sky Hook”
April 28, 1954 “The Softer Voice”
May 5, 1954 “Quorum for Death”
May 12, 1954 “Lucky Stretch”
May 19, 1954 “His Worst Enemy”
[“…story about a dog and his
owner…”]
May 26, 1954 “False Faces”
[“…story of a man who has a
strange power…”]
June 2, 1954 “The Hungry Thing”
[“…story with a jungle setting…”]
June 9, 1954 “One for the Road”
[“…story of a man who fought
alcoholism…”]
June 16, 1954 “The Brain Wash”
[“…Peter Lorre narrates the story
of ‘The Brain Wash’ which was
given an American…”]
June 23, 1954 “Dig the Grave Deep”
[“…story of a young man seeking
uranium in Canada…”]
June 30, 1954 “The Last Laugh”
[“…A guy named Joe loses his girl,
his business and his life to a guy
named Jones…”]
July 7, 1954 “Till the End of Time”
July 14, 1954 “Desert in the Sky”
[“…story of two drunks on the steel
beams of a new skyscraper…”]
July 21, 1954 “The Face”
July 28, 1954 “The Hammer Killer (according
to Cheryl Morris)
Aug. 4, 1954 “Forget Me Not”
Aug. 11, 1954 “The Abyss”
[“…a story proving that even
oceanographers and their wives can
become involved in romantic
triangles…”]
Aug. 18, 1954 “The Alien”
[“…A man from another world
complicates the life of a young
doctor…”]
Aug. 25, 1954 “If I Should Die Before I
Wake”
[“…story of a police sergeant who
begins falling asleep every time he
hears the man he’s after…”]
Sep. 1, 1954 “The Coils of Fear”
[“…one about a criminal who sought
the ‘perfect’ place to hide and
landed on an island inhabited by
pythons…”]
Sep. 8, 1954 “Bread and Butter”
Sep. 15, 1954 “The Rose Has Thorns”
[“…one about a respectable citizen
who suddenly finds himself in a
living nightmare…”]
Sep. 22, 1954 “Grave for Rent”
Sep. 29, 1954 “H-Hour”
[“…It’s about a man who dwells on
the question of what it would be like
if an H-bomb fell…”]
Sources for log information: Miami Daily News, Miami Herald, Houston Post, The
Billboard.
`
O
ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT
“Alfred Hitchcock is about to send some of his spine-chilling yarns over the airwaves.”
ORIGINATION:
DURATION: Recorded in 1945.
PERSONNEL: Alfred Hitchcock (host, narrator).
EXTANT RECORDING:
ORVAL ANDERSON HORROR SERIES
[Dallas Morning News, August 25, 1941] “Orval Anderson, enlongated mike spieler who
has just arrived from New Orleans to join the WFAA-KGKO staff, makes his local debut
as a master of ceremonies Tuesday p.m., on the exciting quiz show, What Am I?”
“Orval Anderson, announcer of WFAA and KGKO, is busy preparing material for a new
idea in horror stories. The drama will be built around three transcribed spot
announcements which occur in the allotted quarter hour, making the script read
something like ‘…before the madman cuts this nice man’s head off, a word to you by
transcription.’ The title and time of the dramas will be announced at a later date.” [Dallas
Morning News, July 12, 1942]
OUT OF THE DARKNESS
“Romance, fear, hatred—the dramatic story of a man back from the dead. Thriller
adapted from the work of Sheridan Le Fanu, and concerns a great scientist who works
secretly on amazing experiments.” 52 episodes.
[Lane] “…a macabre tale of a scientist working to restore life to the dead…”
ORIGINATION: George Edwards Productions, Sydney, New South Wales.
DURATION: Circa 1946. (1942, according to Lane).
PERSONNEL: George Edwards (producer), Eric Scott (scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
OUT OF THE NIGHT
“Canada’s only indigenous horror pulpster (he never left home) was the flamboyant
Thomas P. Kelley, a fast-talking, hard-drinking roisterer who had no literary background
but, by his own account, left a print legacy of 700 stories totaling eight million words…
The best of the original Canpulps was Uncanny Tales, which was produced by Adam
Publishing in Toronto, and ran some 21 issues between 1940 and 1943… Kelley claimed
to have written every story in the first few issues… He certainly wrote such stories as ‘The
Talking Heads,’ ‘Isle of Madness,’ and ‘The Soul Eater,’ for these appeared under his own
name. Kelley’s fascination with the weird and horrific even resulted in a series of 57
Canadian radio dramas broadcast under the title ‘Out of the Night.’
…Outgunned by fatter, glossier product, Toronto’s own pulp paper barons began
closing down operations.
‘Competition was too stiff,’ Kelley recalled, ‘though I recall one downtown publisher
who tried to hold on for a while. He arranged to bring out a magazine titled Eerie Tales
and got me to write it for him. I did a lead yarn, ‘The Hound,’ four or five shorter stories
and part one of a proposed serial, ‘The Weird Queen.’”
ORIGINATION: Canada.
DURATION: Circa 1943.
PERSONNEL: Ernie Edge (scriptwriter), Kay Edge (scriptwriter), Thomas P. Kelley
(scriptwriter).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
OUT OF THE NIGHT
Possibly an audition recording.
ORIGINATION: (ABC).
DURATION: Circa 1947.
PERSONNEL: Jeanette Nolan (role in audition play).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Dead End” (11/25/47).
OUT OF THIS WORLD
An audition recording for what later became Escape. It is clear that the original intention
was toward the sinister and supernatural rather than rigorous adventure. It is possible
that some of the horror scripts used during the first year of Escape (eg. “The Fall of the
House of Usher,” “Pollock and the Porrah Man,” “Taboo,” “Ancient Sorceries”) were
holdovers that had been written when it was still considered a weird series.
ORIGINATION: WABC, New York City, New York.
[NOTE: This show was produced for CBS but never broadcast.]
DURATION: Recorded on February 28, 1947.
PERSONNEL: Art Carney (role in audition play), Berry Kroeger (role in audition play).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Dead of Night.”
OUT OF THIS WORLD
Canadian series done by popular childrens show actor.
ORIGINATION: C???, Toronto, Ontario (CBC Dominion Network)
DURATION: May 6-July 1, 1955.
PERSONNEL: Rodney Coneybeare (scriptwriter), Andrew Stewart (producer).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
`
P
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Basil Rathbone replaced Claude Rains in this Lux production.
PHANTOM THEATER
Bob Kent is cited in the 1944 Radio Annual for his work on this and another KFH series,
Parlor Playhouse. KFH broadcast from the York Rite building in downtown Wichita.
An ad in the October 23, 1942 issue of the Wichita Eagle announced: “10:30 P.M.—
‘PHANTOM THEATER” RETURNS—A Presentation of Goldsmiths—Produced by John
Speer—With Veteran Cast of Players.”
Variant title: Goldsmith’s Phantom Theater.
ORIGINATION: KFH, Wichita, Kansas.
DURATION: December 12, 1941 (one-shot broadcast), October 23, 1942-June 4, 1943
(series).
PERSONNEL: John Speer (producer).
CASTS: Bob Kent, et al.
SPONSOR: Goldsmith’s (“Gifts, Books and Games”).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
PHANTOM TIME
“A series of ghost stories and of the supernatural, combining the strange, the incredible,
the horrifying. It contains original stories together with adaptations of some of the
world’s best-unknown tales from authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles
Dickens, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Edgar Allan Poe.”
ORIGINATION: 2UW, Sydney, New South Wales.
[NOTE: Electrical transcriptions of the series were distributed through Fidelity.]
DURATION: Circa 1958.
PERSONNEL: Unknown.
CASTS: John Alden, Queenie Ashton, Kevin Brennan, Amber Mae Cecil, Margaret
Christensen, Roger Climpson, Myrna Dodd, David Eadie, Stewart Ginn, Gordon
Glenwright, Maddi Hedd, Max Osbiston, Don Pascoe, Jean Robertson.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Haunted Cabin” (#13), “The Tapping Stick” (#14), “The
Hand of Shen-Tu” (#19), “Jerryb Jarvis’s Wig” (#20).
[NOTE: These broadcasts are accessible only at the archives of ScreenSound Australia in
Canberra. Also available at the archives, as part of the 2UW sound effects collection, is a
relevant bit of noise, noted as follows: “Female crying (moaning) in gigantic echo
chamber: used exclusively in Phantom Time (The Ghoul Show).”]
PHANTOM TIME
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13] “The Haunted Cabin”
[14] “The Tapping Stick”
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19] “The Hand of Shen-Tu”
[20] “Jerryb Jarvis’s Wig”
[21]
[22]
[23] [24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41] “Lord Arthur Saville’s
Crime”
[42] “The Man in the Mirror”
[43] “The Tall Woman”
[44] “The Transferred Ghost”
[45] “The Alibi”
[46] “The Engineer”
[47] “The Telephone”
[48] “The Death Watch”
[49] “A Christmas Visit”
[50] “The Follower”
[51] “The House in the Dream”
[52]
Episode title with unidentified number:
“The 4:15 Express”
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
[Australian OTR Database] “Oscar Wilde’s story of a man able to see his own soul in a
picture of himself—a picture which changes as the man’s character changes from good
to evil.”
ORIGINATION: George Edwards Productions.
DURATION:
PERSONNEL: George Edwards (producer).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
[Australian OTR Database] “Oscar Wilde’s story of a man able to see his own soul in a
picture of himself—a picture which changes as the man’s character changes from good
to evil.”
ORIGINATION: George Edwards Productions.
DURATION:
PERSONNEL: Catherine Jones (scriptwriter—1945, Vancouver Playhouse), Archie
MacCorkindale (1945, Vancouver Playhouse).
EXTANT RECORDINGS:
VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE (
[
Jan. 5, 1945 “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”
June 29, 1945 “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”
THE PLAYMAKERS’ LAB
A New Orleans dramatic group under the direction of Beverly Brown. Not enough horror
in their overall line-up, but what they did was interesting.
ORIGINATION: WNOE, New Orleans, Louisiana.
DURATION: [November 5, 1941-March 10, 1943].
PERSONNEL: Beverly Brown (director), Don Ringe (scriptwriter).
CASTS: Elaine Richards, Don Ringe, Bob Steele, Joseph Stoll.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
THE PLAYMAKERS’ LAB
[Wednesday—9:30-10:00 PM]
Nov. 5, 1941 “The Phantom Coach”
Nov. 26, 1941
[“…The Playmaker’s Lab presents a
dual offering… Beverly Brown directs
dramatizations from both Poe and
Maupassant…”]
Dec. 3, 1941 “Diary of a Madman” (by Guy
de Maupassant)
Dec. 10, 1941 “The Fall of the House of Usher”
(by Edgar Allan Poe)
[“…Elaine Richards plays the role of
Madeline in Poe’s ‘Fall of the House
of Usher’… Joseph Stoll is narrator in
this production of the Playmakers’
Lab…”]
[Thursday—8:15-8:45 PM]
Sep. 17, 1942 “The Spectre Bridegroom” (by
Washington Irving)
[Wednesday—9:30-10:00 PM]
Oct. 21, 1942 “The Vampire” (by Dion
Boucicoult)
[“A large cast from WNOE’s
Playmakers Lab will enact Dion
Boucicoult’s ‘The Vampire’… Weird
sound effects have been fabricated by
a technical crew…”]
Feb. 10, 1943 “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
March 10, 1943 “Drums in the Night”
[“…presents an original play by one
of its members. Don Ringe, Tulane
student, has written a tale of the
weird voodoo…”]
`
Q
QUIET PLEASE
One of the glories of Silver-age radio.
According to Dunning: “Sundays at 3:30 until June 29; then, beginning July 28, 1947,
there were two weekly broadcasts—Mondays at 10 in New York (out of WOR) and
Wednesdays at 8:30 on Mutual. On Feb. 2, 1948, the network broadcast moved to
Mondays at 9:30, resulting in a single weekly performance thereafter.”
ORIGINATION: WOR, New York City, New York (MBS).
DURATION: May 22, 1947 (audition show), June 8-July 3, 1947 (first series), July 28,
1947-September 13, 1948 (second series).
PERSONNEL: Albert J. Buhrman (piano, organ), Ernest Chappell (narrator), Wyllis Cooper
(scriptwriter, producer), Gene Perazzo (piano, organ).
CASTS: Charita Bauer, Donald Briggs, Lon Clark, Nancy Douglas, Vinton Hayworth, Ed
Latimer, Claudia Morgan, Ralph Morgan, Kermit Murdock, Pat O’Malley, Anne Seymour,
Peggy Stanley, Lotte Stavisky, Les Tremayne, James Van Dyke, Walter Black.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Nothing Behind the Door” (6/8/47),
QUIET PLEASE (WOR)
[?????
May 22, 1947 “How Are You, Pal?”
[Sunday—3:30-4:00 PM]
June 8, 1947 “Nothing Behind the Door”
[“…three thieves decide to use a
fenced-off building atop Mount
Wilson as a cache for stolen money.
Astronomers at the Mount Wilson
observatory ‘who know a lot more
than they are telling’ warn off
intruders, but the thieves are
undaunted. They cut thru the fence
in the black hours of early morning,
break thru the door—and one and
then another enters the blackness to
disappear into the vastness of the
universe. An astronomer appears to
save the third and to conduct him to
safety over a series of catwalks
suspended in the blackness amidst
stars, space and nothingness…
Currently the program is heard over
MBS, but not in New York. The web
is considering shifting the show to a
nighttime spot…”] (The Billboard)]
June 15, 1947 “I Have Been Looking for
You”
[“…a highly sentimental piece of an
unnamed young man’s long, aching
search for the girl of his dreams. The
girl also futilely searches for him.
They meet death at the same instant,
at the same spot, without
meeting…” (Variety)]
June 22, 1947 “We Were Here First”
June 29, 1947 “The Ticket Taker”
[Sunday—9:00-9:30 PM] 10:00?
July 20, 1947 “Cornelia”
[“…the strange tale of a dead
woman’s hideous revenge—which
ultimately drives her bereaved
husband to murder…”]
[This schedule was announced in
the St. Petersburg Times.] ??????
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM] [3:30-4:00 PM]?????
July 27, 1947
Syracuse Herald-American
Lists QP at 3:30 and 10:00
[Monday—10:00-10:30 PM]
July 28, 1947 “I Remember Tomorrow”
[“…a new dramatic series to be
heard on WOR by transcription…
Mr. Cooper will offer the listeners,
during the initial offering, the story
of the inventor of a time machine
who learns that he is about to be
murdered…”]
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 3, 1947 Same as July 27
[Monday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 4, 1947 “Inquest”
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 10, 1947 “Bring Me to Life”
Aug. 11, 1947 “Bring Me to Life”
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 17, 1947 “
Aug. 18, 1947 “A Mile High and a Mile
Deep”
[“…It’s a story about the copper
mines in the mountains above Butte,
Montana, and the people who work
there…”]
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 24, 1947 “
Aug. 25, 1947 “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Aug. 31, 1947 “
Sep. 1, 1947 “Retreat at Dunkuerque”
(AKA “A Ribbon of Lincoln
Green”)
[Sunday—10:00-10:30 PM]
Sep. 7, 1947 “
Sep. 8, 1947 “Three Sides to a Story”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Sep. 10, 1947 “How Are You, Pal?” ?????
[“…Johnny Madero, sustainer
currently on Mutual Wednesday
nights, does its last broadcast
September 3, with Quiet, Please,
new Mutual Wyllis Cooper show,
inheriting the spot September 10…”
(The Billboard)]
Sep. 15, 1947 “The Big Box”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Sep. 17, 1947 “The Big Box”
Sep. 22, 1947 “Be a Good Dog, Darling”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Sep. 24, 1947 “Be a Good Dog, Darling”
Sep. 29, 1947 “The Low Road”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Oct. 1, 1947 “
Oct. 6, 1947 “Not Enough Time”
[Wednesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
Oct. 8, 1947 “Not Enough Time”
Oct. 13, 1947 “Camera Obscura”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Oct. 15, 1947 “
[Monday—10:00-10:25 PM]
Oct. 20, 1947 “The Girl with the Flaxen
Hair”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Oct. 22, 1947 “The Girl with the Flaxen
Hair”
Oct. 27, 1947 “Don’t Tell Me About
Halloween”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Oct. 29, 1947 “Don’t Tell Me About
Halloween”
Nov. 3, 1947 “Take Me Out to the
Graveyard”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Nov. 5, 1947 “Take Me Out to the
Graveyard”
[Announced as “Take Me Out
to the Cemetery.”]
Nov. 10, 1947 “Three”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Nov. 12, 1947 “Three”
Nov. 17, 1947 “Kill Me Again”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Nov. 19, 1947 “Kill Me Again”
Nov. 24, 1947 “In Memory of Bernadine”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Nov. 26, 1947 “In Memory of Bernadine”
[“…the story of a strange and
wonderful love…”]
Dec. 1, 1947 “Come In, Eddie”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Dec. 3, 1947 “
Dec. 8, 1947 “Some People Don’t Die”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Dec. 10, 1947 “Some People Don’t Die”
Dec. 15, 1947 “Little Fellow”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Dec. 17, 1947 “Little Fellow”
Dec. 22, 1947 “Berlin—1945”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Dec. 24, 1947 “Berlin—1945”
[“…The unusual story of an
interrupted banquet…”]
Dec. 29, 1947 “Rain on New Year’s Eve”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Dec. 31, 1947 “
Jan. 5, 1948 “Little Visitor”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Jan. 7, 1948 “Little Visitor”
[“…The chilling tale of a man haunted
by a ‘Little Visitor’… This latest
creation of writer-director Wyllis
Cooper concerns a respectable citizen
who commits terrible crimes each time
the youthful apparition appears…”]
Jan. 12, 1948 “The Room Where the Ghosts
Lived”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Jan. 14, 1948 “The Room Where the Ghosts
Live”
[“…Imagine being imprisoned in a
room that doesn’t exist. That’s the
plight of actor-narrator Ernest
Chappell…”]
Jan. 19, 1948 “Baker’s Dozen”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Jan. 21, 1948 “
Jan. 26, 1948 “Green Light”
[Wednesday—8:30-8:55 PM]
Jan. 28, 1948 “
[Monday—9:30-10:00 PM]
Feb. 2, 1948 “The Pathetic Fallacy”
[“…Ernest Chappell will play the role
of a college professor of philosophy
who learns that even inanimate objects
hold strange secrets…”]
Feb. 9, 1948 “A Red and White Guidon”
Feb. 16, 1948 “Whence Came You?”
Feb. 23, 1948 “Wear the Dead Man’s Coat”
March 1, 1948 “Sketch for a Screenplay”
March 8, 1948 “Never Send to Know”
March 15, 1948 “Meeting at Ticonderoga”
March 22, 1948 “A Night to Forget”
[“…The story describes the plight of
a man who wishes he could forget.
Ernest Chappell will play the role of
the man faced with this strange
dilemma…”]
March 29, 1948 “Quiet Please”
April 5, 1948 “I Always Marry Juliet”
April 12, 1948 “Twelve to Five”
April 19, 1948 “Clarissa”
April 26, 1948 “Thirteen and Eight”
May 3, 1948 “How Beautiful Upon the
Mountain”
May 10, 1948 “There Are Shadows Here”
May 17, 1948 “Gem of Purest Ray”
May 24, 1948 “In the House Where I Was
Born”
May 31, 1948 “Below Fifth Avenue”
June 7, 1948 “100,000 Diameters”
[“…Electronic microscopes are said
to magnify objects to approximately
20,000 times their normal size.
However, Wyllis Cooper has
constructed one that magnifies up to
‘100,000 diameters’ which he’ll
audibly display on tonight’s
broadcast. Ernest Chappell is cast as
a scientist who sees too much
through the lens…”]
June 14, 1948 “Not Responsible After 30
Years”
June 28, 1948 “Let the Lilies Consider”
July 5, 1948 “Wahine Tahiti”
July 19, 1948 “As Long As I Live”
[“…A whirlwind of swift, unique
and terrible revenge engulfs narrator
Ernest Chappell…”]
July 26, 1948 “The Man Who Stole a Planet”
Aug. 2, 1948 “It Is Later Than You Think”
Aug. 9, 1948 “The Thing on the Fourble
Board”
[“…Fourble board! Doubletalk? No,
it’s just oilmen’s lingo for the
platform halfway-up the derrick
holding oil well drills. And it’s ‘The
Thing on the Fourble Board’ that
provides Wyllis Cooper with a story
of a haunted oil well…”]
Aug. 16, 1948 “Presto Change-O, I’m Sure”
Aug. 23, 1948 “Three Thousand Words”
Aug. 30, 1948 “Motive”
Sep. 6, 1948 “The Third Man’s Story”
Sep. 13, 1948 “Symphony in D Minor”
QUIET PLEASE
Switching from MBS to ABC.
ORIGINATION: WJZ, New York City, New York (ABC).
DURATION: September 19, 1948-June 25, 1949.
PERSONNEL: Albert Buhrmann (organist), Ernest Chappell (narrator, lead roles), Wyllis
Cooper (scriptwriter, producer, director), Bill McClintock (sound effects), Ed Michael
(announcer).
CASTS: Donald Briggs, Kathleen Cordell, Charles Eggleston, Athena Lord, Pat O’Malley,
Ralph Scuman, Peggy Stanley, Lotte Stavisky, Warren Stevens, Dan Sutter, Frank Thomas
Jr.
EXTANT RECORDINGS:
QUIET PLEASE (WJZ)
[Sunday—5:00-5:30 PM]
Sep. 19, 1948 “Anonymous”
[“…A politico, between
congratulatory letters and phone
calls, gets an anonymous call from a
femme urging him to drop dead.
This occurrence preys on his mind
until he obliges the lady…”]
Sep. 26, 1948 “Light the Lamp for Me”
Oct. 3, 1948 “Meet John Smith, John”
Oct. 10, 1948 “Beezer’s Cellar”
Oct. 17, 1948 “And Jeannie Dreams of Me”
Oct. 24, 1948 “Good Ghost”
Oct. 31, 1948 “Calling All Souls”
Nov. 7, 1948 “Adam and the Darkest Day”
Nov. 14, 1948 “The Evening and the
Morning”
Nov. 21, 1948 “One for the Book”
Nov. 28, 1948 “My Son John”
Dec. 5, 1948 “Very Unimportant Person”
Dec. 12, 1948 “Rede Me This Riddle”
Dec. 19, 1945 “The Gothic Tale”
Dec. 26, 1948 “Berlin—1945”
Jan. 2, 1949 “The Time of the Big Snow”
Jan. 9, 1949 “Portrait of a Character”
Jan. 16, 1949 “Is This Murder?”
[Glut has date of September 25,
1947. “…A murdered man’s brain is
put into the head of an automaton
with cranium-plated skull,
microphone ears and wide-angle
lenses. The story frequently refers to
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the
Universal films Frankenstein, Son of
Frankenstein (written by Willis
Cooper) and Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein…”]
Jan. 23, 1949 “Summer Good-Bye”
Jan. 30, 1949 “Northern Lights”
Feb. 6, 1949 “Tap the Heat, Bogdan”
Feb. 13, 1949 “Valentine”
Feb. 20, 1949 “Where Do You Get Your
Ideas?”
Feb. 27, 1949 “If I Should Wake Before I
Die”
March 6, 1949 “The Man Who Knew
Everything”
March 13, 1949 “Dark Rosaleen”
March 20, 1949 “The Smell of High Wines”
March 27, 1949 “A Time to Be Born and a
Time to Die”
April 3, 1949 “The Venetian Blind Man”
April 10, 1949 “Dialog for a Tragedy”
April 17, 1949 “Shadow of the Wings”
April 24, 1949 “The Vale of Glencoe”
May 1, 1949 “Dark Grey Magic”
May 8, 1949 “The Other Side of the Stars”
May 15, 1949 “The Little Morning”
[Saturday—
May 21, 1949 “The Oldest Man in the World”
May 28, 1949 “In the House Where I Was
Born”
June 4, 1949 “Tanglefoot”
June 11, 1949 “The Hat, the Bed, and John J.
Catherine”
June 18, 1949 “Pavane”
June 25, 1949 “Quiet Please”
`
R
RADIOTEATRO FANTASTICO
Cited in an appendix of the book La Radio en Chile (CENECA, 1985); nothing further is
known. It came on the air at 23:30, a half-hour until midnight.
ORIGINATION: CB 66, Santiago (Chilena).
DURATION: Circa 1960.
PERSONNEL: Unknown.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: Unknown.
`
S
SATAN’S WAITIN’
This summer replacement for the mystery series Mr. and Mrs. North featured
dramatizations depicting the Devil tempting people into committing crimes. “In
attempting to put a new twist on this dramatic show,” commented the Variety reviewer,
“scripter Joel Malone has come up with one of the most venerable, not to say hoariest,
devices in literature—the use of the devil as the plot manipulator. Malone, however, has
a flashy style and puts enough complications and violence into the yarn to sustain
complete attention.”
Concurrently with the radio series a pilot film was made for television (reviewed in the
July 2, 1950 issue of NYT).
ORIGINATION: KNX, Hollywood, California (CBS).
DURATION: June 6-August 29, 1950.
PERSONNEL: Frank Graham (announcer), Joel Malone (scriptwriter), Joe Rines
(producer).
SPONSOR: Colgate.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “Paintings of Death” (7/25/50).
SATAN’S WAITIN’
[Tuesday—8:30-9:00 PM]
June 6, 1950
[“…Satan stirs up an evil love potion
concocted for throwing three persons
into a jealous rage…”]
June 13, 1950
[“…Satan shows the pitfalls of
marriage for money…”]
June 20, 1950
[“…A business tycoon discovers
his wife is in love with a junior
executive of his firm…”]
June 27, 1950
[“…A wealthy woman deliberately
tests her husband’s love of money
and resistance to pretty women…”]
July 4, 1950
[“…The political ambitions of an
assistant district attorney lead him
into dire entanglements…”]
July 11, 1950
July 18, 1950
[“…Swashbuckling soldier-of-
fortune Marty South runs afoul of a
female buzzsaw in the Far East and
consents to pose as her mate who
was lost in a ship-wreck enroute to
Singapore…”]
July 25, 1950 “Paintings of Death”
[“…An extracurricular romance
with a young artist leading a
pretty young wife to the brink of
divorce…”]
Aug. 1, 1950
Aug. 8, 1950
[“…Satan taunts a private
investigator, Frank Carson, into
murdering his partner in undercover
deals…”]
Aug. 15, 1950
[“…A bobby-soxer with an
infatuation for an orchestra leader
helps solve a mystery…”]
Aug. 22, 1950
[“…A gangster seeking refuge in the
hills of Mexico, is smoked out of his
hiding place by need of medical
attention…”]
Aug. 29, 1950
[“…A check book showing a
balance of more than $100,000 is
found on the body of a man by a
shiftless and penniless fellow…”]
Sources for log information: Miami Daily News, DenverPost.
THE SEALED BOOK
The Mysterious Traveler minus the Traveler…replaced with the “Keeper of the Book.”
ORIGINATION: WOR, New York, New York City (MBS).
[NOTE: This series was also released as electrical transcriptions into the syndication
market by the WOR recording division.]
DURATION: March 18-September 9, 1945.
PERSONNEL: Robert Arthur (scriptwriter), Philip Clarke (voice of “The Keeper of the
Book”), David Kogan (scriptwriter), Jock MacGregor (director).
SPONSOR: John Surrey Ltd. (Snow Apple Smoke Tobacco).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: The entire series of 26 broadcasts.
THE SEALED BOOK
[Sunday—10:30-11:00 PM]
March 18, 1945 “The Hands of Death”
March 25, 1945 “King of the World”
April 1, 1945 “Death Spins a Web”
April 8, 1945 “Devil’s Island”
April 15, 1945 “Escape by Death”
April 22, 1945 “Death at Storm House”
April 29, 1945 “The Accusing Corpse”
May 6, 1945 “Stranger in the House”
May 13, 1945 “Out of the Past”
May 20, 1945 “Welcome Home”
May 27, 1945 “I’ll Die Laughing”
June 3, 1945 “Design for Death”
June 10, 1945 “The Ghost Makers”
June 17, 1945 “Broadway, Here I Come”
June 24, 1945 “The Queen of the Cats”
July 1, 1945 “Death Rings Down the
Curtain”
July 8, 1945 “Till Death Do Us Part”
July 15, 1945 “The Man With the Stolen
Face”
July 22, 1945 “My Beloved Must Die”
July 29, 1945 “Beware of Tomorrow”
Aug. 5, 1945 “Murder Must Be Paid For”
Aug. 12, 1945 “To Have and To Hold”
Aug. 19, 1945 “Murderer Unknown”
Aug. 26, 1945 “Time on My Hands”
Sep. 2, 1945 “Death Laughs Last”
Sep. 9, 1945 “You Only Die Once”