THE CROSS-EYED PARROT
[RADIO-SERIAL]
Carlton Morse was in the vanguard of the mystery serial genre that blossomed in 1930, and no
one else brought as macabre a tone to the genre as he did.
[Press release] “The Cross-Eyed Parrot has been performed by stock companies in all parts of
the United States. Maxwell himself appeared in the juvenile lead with his own company in
Oakland. He wrote the play about eight years ago. Carlton E. Morse is writing the radio
adaptation in ten episodes.”
[K. L. Ecksan, Oakland Tribune] “’The Cross-Eyed Parrot’ has got us all cross-eyed trying to
keep one eye on the present and the other on the future, in an effort to see what the villain is up to
now, and to figure out what he’s going to do next.”
“Presented over the air for the first time last summer, the serial created a sensation with NBC
audiences and was the forerunner of a series of mystery plays which have been written by Morse
during the past year.”
[Program information]
ORIGINATION: KGO, San Francisco, California (NBC PACIFIC COAST RED).
DURATION: May 2-July 11, 1930.
PERSONNEL: Ted Maxwell (director), Carlton E. Morse (scriptwriter).
CAST: Grace Cooper (Lisle Frawley), Will Foster (The Parrot), Barry Hopkins (Dr. Herz Von
Elm), Bert Horton (Plummer Collins), Barbara Lee (Margot, the Panther Woman), Richard
LeGrand (Dr. S. Pinal Kord), Rollon Parker (Hayne Frawley), Jack Phipps (Morgan), Fred
Thomas (The Laughing Maniac), Vanita d’Voir (Teja Von Elm).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
[Program log]
THE CROSS-EYED PARROT (KGO, SAN FRANCISCO)
[Friday—10:00-10:30 PM]
May 2, 1930 [1] “The Transplanting of Brains”
[“…Its principal setting is an island belonging to the fanatical Dr. Herz
Von Elm, who has a fondness for conducting experiments on
human beings and animals. He holds his human captives for huge
ransoms, and if they are unable to pay the money, he uses them as
subjects for his gruesome scientific tests…”]
May 9, 1930 [2] “Two Men and a Maid”
[“…The action of this episode takes place in the home of Hayne Frawley
and his sister Lisle. Plummer Collins, in love with Lisle, is an early
morning visitor. The chief topic of conversation is the activities of a
mysterious man who kidnaps people, blindfolds them and takes them for
a boat ride to an unknown place, where they are kept in a richly furnished
apartment until they pay a huge ransom. Hayne and Plummer have a
theory as to the identity of the kidnapper. As the episode comes to a
close, Lisle disappears…”]
May 16, 1930 [3] “The Panther Girl Screams”
May 23, 1930 [4] “The Laughing Maniac Escapes”
May 30, 1930 [5] “The Gorilla Roars”
[“…Hayne Frawley and his chum, Plummer Collins, arrive at Dr. Herz
Von Elm’s island in search of Hayne’s sister, Lisle…”]
June 6, 1930 [6] “The End of the Panther Girl”
June 20, 1930 [7] “The Phantom Strikes Again”
[“…This week’s episode tells of another death, mysteriously foretold in a
note left at Dr. Herz Von Elm’s door… Morgan, who has been employed
by the doctor, is murdered under puzzling circumstances. Then the
doctor is discovered in an unconscious condition. And things happen fast
and mysteriously…”]
June 27, 1930 [8]
[“…Hansen is added to the list of the slain… A message left by the
mysterious killer promised him a ghastly death by strangling… The
mysterious disappearance of Dr. Von elm is partially solved. He was
carried away by a masked giant who wore gloves as big as baseball
mitts—was carried to a cave and forced to dress the wound in the Panther
Girl’s shoulder. After he has finished dressing the wound, the doctor is
walloped on the head…”]
July 4, 1930 [9] “Strapped to the Operating Table”
[“…Dr. Von Elm is still determined to transplant a human brain into the
skull of a gorilla. His plan meets another setback in tonight’s episode
when, during the operation, the gorilla gets loose…”]
July 11, 1930 [10] “The Gorilla Man Revealed”
[“…The gorilla comes out from under the anaesthetic, attacks the
doctor and is stabbed to death. But the doctor dies also, the gorilla’s paws
closed around his neck in a death grip. Margot, the doctor’s wife, dies of
heart trouble. Jack Henderson, Chicago medical dentist, reveals himself
as the mystery man…”]
THE CROSS-EYED PARROT
Second production of the Carlton Morse mystery serial…
ORIGINATION: WFAA, Dallas, Texas.
DURATION: June 27-August 29, 1931 (WFAA).
PERSONNEL: Carlton E. Morse (scriptwriter), Mrs. Maxwell Sholes (director).
CAST: Joe Berger, Adams Calhoun, Lena McNair, Louis Veda Quince, Blanche Rosenberg.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
THE CROSS-EYED PARROT (WFAA, DALLAS)
[
June 27, 1931 [1]
THE CROSS-EYED PARROT
Third production of the Carlton Morse mystery serial…
ORIGINATION: KTAB, Oakland, California.
DURATION: July 27-September 28, 1931.
PERSONNEL: Carlton E. Morse (scriptwriter).
CAST: Will Foster (The Cross-eyed Parrot), Al Gibney, Peggy Jensen (Lisle Frawley), Alma La
Marr (Margot), Robert S. Lawler (Morgan / Spinal Cord), Grant Pollock (Wain Frawley), Bob
Roberts (Doctor Von Elm), Jean Wakefield (Teja Von Elm).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
THE CROSS-EYED PARROT (KTAB, OAKLAND)
[Monday—9:00-9:30 PM]
July 27, 1931 [1]
Aug. 3, 1931 [2]
Aug. 10, 1931 [3] “The Panther Girl Screams”
Aug. 17, 1931 [4] “The Laughing Maniac
Escapes”
Aug. 24, 1931 [5] “The Gorilla Roars”
Aug. 31, 1931 [6]
Sep. 7, 1931 [7]
Sep. 14, 1931 [8]
Sep. 21, 1931 [9]
Sep. 28, 1931 [10]