THE DEVIL’S SCRAPBOOK
[RADIO-SERIES]
“I am the Devil…
In the latter half of 1938 Charles Penman, a radio jack-of-all-trades (actor, announcer, director)
who had been associated with WJR since the beginning of the decade, moved from Detroit to Los
Angeles to take over the position of production manager at KHJ, the mother station of the Don
Lee Broadcasting System. Shortly after assuming his duties, he created a horror series very much
in the mold of The Hermit’s Cave, which he had directed at WJR ever since its premiere broadcast
in 1935.
[Penman’s background] In 1929 he toured with the Walker Whiteside company and, together
with future Inner Sanctum host Paul McGrath, gave villainous gusto to the eerie mystery play,
The Hindu. “Penman spent much of his boyhood in India where his father was interested in the
ruby industry…lived in Burma and is an expert on the customs and habits of the Orientals.
‘Practically all my waking hours were spent riding elephants,’ says Penman.”
Penman had a deep voice and a rich melodramatic delivery—with intonation somewhat akin to
Lionel Barrymore—which he had employed at WJR for a variety of styles and broadcast purposes,
from the reading of sentimental verse to the raising of gooseflesh on late-night listeners. As “The
Devil” he…
[Broadcasting, Feb. 15, 1939] “Charles Penman, production manager of Don Lee Broadcastin
System, Los Angeles, has taken on additional duties of program director of television broadcasts.
Change relieves Jaime del Valle of the television post, permitting him additional radio production
activity.”
[Broadcasting, May 15, 1939] “Charles Penman, production manager and television program
director of Don Lee Broadcasting System, Los Angeles, has resigned to free lance. Jaime del Valle,
who formerly was television program director of W6XAO, has returned to that post.”
[Oakland Tribune, July 5, 1939] “Mr. Benet Costa writes the Devil’s Scrapbook, and Billy
Bletcher plays the part of the Devil.”
[Broadcasting, May 15, 1940] “Charles D. Penman, formerly production manager and director
of television for the Don Lee network, has joined the NBC-Chicago production department
replacing Gordon T. Hughes, resigned.”
[Amarillo Globe-Times, George Turner, October 10, 1974] “A great radio voice was that of
Charles Penman, star of ‘The Devil’s Scrapbook,’ which scared the trousers off of homebodies
back in 1938-39. Death, Satan and other characters one prefers to avoid seemed disturbingly real
in this gloriously evil program nobody seems to remember.”
ORGINATION: KHJ, Los Angeles, California (Mutual-Don Lee).
DURATION: October 4-25, 1938 (first series), November 21, 1938-July 31, 1939 (second series).
PERSONNEL: Billy Bletcher (voice of “The Devil”—1939), Benet Costa (scriptwriter—1939), Bob Mitchell
(organist), Charles Penman (producer, voice of “The Devil”—1938-1939).
CASTS: Noreen Gammill, Charles Penman, Paula Winslowe, et al.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: “The Conquest Of David Rugg” (11/28/38).
[CHRONOLOGY]
THE DEVIL’S SCRAPBOOK (KHJ, LOS ANGELES—MUTUAL-DON LEE)
[Tuesday—9:30-10:00 PM]
October 4, 1938
October 11, 1938
October 18, 1938
October 25, 1938
[Monday—10:00-10:30 PM]
November 21, 1938
November 28, 1938 “The Conquest of David Rugg”
EXTANT RECORDING
December 5, 1938
December 12, 1938
December 19, 1938
December 26, 1938
January 2, 1939
January 9, 1939
January 16, 1939
January 23, 1939
January 30, 1939
February 6, 1939
February 13, 1939
February 20, 1939
February 27, 1939
March 6, 1939
March 13, 1939 “The Ghost Express”
[“…a story of a wealthy girl and a railroad wreck…”]
March 20, 1939
March 27, 1939
April 3, 1939
April 10, 1939
April 17, 1939
[“…the play will have to do with four convicts and their efforts to escape
from prison on a remote island…”]
April 24, 1939
[“…will have to do with a murder which was committed in a radio
station…”]
May 1, 1939
May 8, 1939
May 15, 1939
May 22, 1939
May 29, 1939
June 5, 1939
June 12, 1939
June 19, 1939
June 26, 1939
[Monday—10:30-11:00 PM]
July 3, 1939
July 10, 1939
[Monday—10:00-10:30 PM]
July 17, 1939
July 24, 1939
July 31, 1939