THE BLACK BOOK
[RADIO-SERIES]
“Come with me down the long corridor…through the shadows…to the secluded study of the
famous teller of tales.”
Paul Frees played the Man in Black in this series which lasted three weeks.
“On November 2, 1951 Paul rehearsed an audition show for CBS called The Perfect Crime. ‘This
is The Man in Black. A year ago tonight, an innocent man was murdered in a small New England
village.’ Clyde Ross, the narrator (Frees again), had told his story of killing his rich Sexton friend
to The Man in Black just before he was executed. Like The Player, all voices were done by Frees,
though it read more like a short story.
“The Man in Black (later The Black Book) audition show was done the following year on
February 2nd. ‘The Price of the Head’ by John Russell began with the dramatic opening: “Come
with me down the long corridor. Through the shadows. To the secluded study of the famous—
teller of tales.’ As the door opens, a voice like Disneyland’s Ghost Host bids you, ‘Welcome. I—am
the Man in Black.’ He sits surrounded by a fantastic collection of books containing the great
unusual stories of the world, from which he takes each week’s episode. The premiere show, also
starring John Dehner, was more action-oriented, less narrative than The Perfect Crime.
“’I have another story to tell you today,’ speaks the playfully confidential Frees in the opening
moment of Nelson Bond’s “On Schedule” on The Black Book. “This one is about a crime in which
nature, not man, trapped a murderer. Do you want to hear it?’ Trumpets herald the sinister
music, at which point the announcer says, “Now, starring Paul Frees as your teller of tales,
another story from The Black Book.’ It was the story of an employee who, having been caught
embezzling $300, is given a chance to steal a much larger amount with the help of his crooked
boss. When the employee is caught and offered a lighter sentence to give state’s evidence, the
employer knows he has to kill him. He rehearses the killing many times, but is undone when
sudden light shows him killing in the dark train car. Unfortunately, the employer had only
rehearsed the dark deed while traveling on night trains; he did not expect sudden daylight to
show from an air shaft as they traveled through the tunnel. Frees narrated and portrayed the
murderous boss, who would get the chair for this crime. John Dehner was on hand to play the
thieving employee.”
ORIGINATION: KNX, Hollywood, California (CBS).
DURATION: February 17-March 2, 1952.
PERSONNEL: Clarence Cassell (announcer), Paul Frees (voice of “The Man in Black”), Norman
Macdonnell (director), Leith Stevens (music).
CASTS: John Dehner, Paul Frees.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: The complete series, plus two audition recordings.
[CHRONOLOGY]
THE BLACK BOOK (KNX, HOLLYWOOD—CBS)
[Sunday—1:15-1:30 PM]
February 17, 1952 “On Schedule”
February 24, 1952 “My Favorite Corpse”
March 2, 1952 “The Vagabond Murder”