THE DRAGON IN THE SUN
[RADIO-SERIAL]
The second mystery-adventure serial by Carlton E. Morse. “Written by Carlton E. Morse and
Keltner Williamson around an old Mayan legend…” “…an absorbing chapter story of love, hate
and terror, laid in that mysterious land of legend, the Central American jungle…” “Carlton E.
Morse and Keltner Williamson are the authors of this mystery serial throughout which runs a
breath of that curious mingling of barbarism and the marvelous civilization which was the Empire
of the ancient Mayans.”
It has been questioned whether Keltner Williamson was a real person or just a name conjured
up by Morse to be an “expert” to lend authenticity to the production. Williamson would appear to
indeed have been a real person, a scriptwriter briefly active at KGO during 1930 and 1931, turning
out yarns for The Story Teller, The NBC Drama Hour and other KGO originations. Among his
radio works were “Sonny” (NBC Drama Hour, June 10, 1931), “The Shadow of Allah” (The Story
Teller, October 1, 1931), “Jungle (NBC Drama Hour, June 24, 1931), “Yang-Tse” (NBC Drama
Hour, July 29, 1931), and “Two A.M.” (The Story Teller, June 25, 1931), described as “a realistic
war play.”
“Black priests of the Mexican jungle, scientists digging in ruins of decayed temples, ancient
documents and a mysterious owl are a few of the ‘angles’ used in making ‘The Dragon in the Sun’
interesting…”
“The story of ‘The Dragon in the Sun’ is based on authentic archeological documents known to
scientists which tell of a hidden city in the jungles of Mexico. This city is the headquarters of an
ancient race of Mayan priests who have a knowledge of mysticism beyond human conception. In
order to keep mankind in ignorance of their secrets which have great destructive powers, they
have sworn to wipe out everyone who has any knowledge of this city.”
“Each episode in this serial reveals an advancement on the part of the scientists towards this
sacred city. The obstacles are many, for the mad priest of the Temple of the Sun has many agents
who will stop at nothing to prevent a white man from finding the lost city.”
Oakland Tribune radio columnist K. L. Ecksan wrote, after listening to the ninth episode of The
Dragon in the Sun, this bit of doggerel: “We get a most amazing thrill…From books of death and
horror still…But now we’ve found an added way…To trace the fearful interplay…Of violence and
hate and fear…On Horror Night we lend an ear…To shot and scream and fatal blow…As offered
on the radio.” He also referred to Morse’s mystery serials as “plays that are melodramatic and full
of strange noises suggestive of static.”
ORIGINATION: KGO, San Francisco, California (NBC PACIFIC COAST RED).
DURATION: July 18-September 19, 1930.
PERSONNEL: Charles McAllister (director), Carlton E. Morse (scriptwriter), Keltner Williamson
(scriptwriter).
CAST: Bobbe Dean (Connie Carter), Bert Horton (Henry Biggs), Richard LeGrand (The Werewolf), Rollon
Parker (Carlos), George Rand (Mark Wells), Fred Thomas (Dr. Carter), Elizabeth Wilbur (Mrs. Roberto
Santos).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
[OG-NOTE: A revamped version of this serial was presented on the author’s 1945 syndicated program Adventures by
Morse under the title “The Land of the Living Dead.” All ten chapters of this version survive.]
THE DRAGON IN THE SUN (KGO, SAN FRANCISCO—NBC-PACIFIC COAST RED)
[Friday—10:00-10:30 PM]
July 18, 1930 [PART 1] “The Feathered Serpent Strikes”
[“…In the first episode a party of explorers come across some ancient
documents while exploring the monastery of a powerful priesthood in the
jungles of Mexico. This data gives them a trace of the location of the
secret city. Just as young Carter is returning to his father to tell him of
further important discoveries he is mysteriously killed by an Indian girl,
one of the many world wide agents of the priests. At the conclusion of the
play the whole party finds itself marked for death…”]
July 25, 1930 [PART 2] “The Gorilla at Sea”
[“…A ship in a thick fog bound for Mexico provides the setting for the
second episode… The condemned group of San Franciscans are fleeing by
sea to a monastery to escape the ‘net of death spread by the Mayan
priesthood’… But it seems that members of the Mayan brotherhood have
followed the party to sea to recover the map of a secret passage to the
Sacred City. ‘Doc’, who knows where the map is and won’t tell, is
captured by one of the pursuers… He is rescued from the clutches of a
gorilla man, who jumps overboard… There are two regular gorillas down
in the hold of the ship and a werewolf running loose on deck, so the
dialers can settle down comfortably to several Friday nights of thrills and
spinal chills…”]
August 1, 1930 [PART 3] “Death Comes to Chiapas”
[OG-NOTE: This episode was originally announced as “The Green-
Eyed Murderess Again.”]
[“…A forgotten city, lost in the tropic jungles of Mexico, is the locale of
the third episode… A group of scientists is about to be sacrificed to a
Mexican rain god. They were captured while attempting to outwit the
mad priest of the jungle city, who has the power to break or make
civilization…”]
[“…Only two of the party of five who are on their way to the Sacred City of
the Sun were left to carry on after last night’s episode… Mrs. Santos,
suspected of having some connection with the Mayan order which Dr.
Carter and the other members of the party are fighting, disappeared. So
did Carter’s daughter. Henry, another member of the party, was captured
and is being held as hostage. Dr. Carter and his one remaining
companion started out last night through the jungles in search of the
secret entrance to the City of the Sun…”]
August 8, 1930 [PART 4] “The Tree That Eats Flesh”
August 15, 1930 [PART 5] “The Stairway to the Sun”
[“…Dr. Carter and his friends reach the monastery in the city of Chiapas.
He learns of the whereabouts of his missing daughter, Connie… Evidence
points strongly to Mrs. Roberto Santos as the enemy rather than the
friend of Dr. Carter and his party…”]
August 22, 1930 [PART 6] “The Chamber of Tortures”
August 29, 1930 [PART 7] “What Becomes of the Living Dead”
[OG-NOTE: Originally announced as “The Terror of the Sacred City”]
[“…Connie Carter was taken before one of the masters of the Mayan
Brotherhood by her captor, the Werewolf, in last night’s episode… She
was informed that she was to be made Empress of the World when the
Mayans had achieved their purpose of overthrowing the present
civilization. Mrs. Santos was taken into the torture chamber. Dr. Carter,
Mark Wells and Henry Biggs were seeking to effect Connie’s rescue at the
close of last night’s chapter…”]
September 5, 1930 [PART 8] “A Glimpse of the SacredCity”
[“…Only two more days are left to save the world, threatened by the
malignant forces of the ancient Mayan priesthood whose hidden city a
little group of Americans have found…”]
[“…Dr. Carter and his companions, Mark and Henry, got a glimpse of the
Sacred City of the Sun during last night’s episode… They had to climb up
to the top of a mountain from the inside to get the view… Connie, Dr.
Carter’s daughter, was still in the hands of the Mayans… The announcer
promised that the hiding place of Connie would be revealed next
week…”]
September 12, 1930 [PART 9] “What Happened to Judas”
[OG-NOTE: Originally announced as “On the Trail of Montezuma’s Treasure”]
[“…Up the mysterious Stairway of the Sun to find—what? This is the
situation upon which tonight’s episode opens its action… The little group
of Americans are still seeking to penetrate the murder mystery which
began in San Francisco and led them to the Sacred City of the ancient
Mayans… Tonight’s episode gives them their first glimpse of the city, and
brings a new angle in the activities of Tula, the girl with green eyes,
whom they believe to be the murder agent of the Mayan priesthood in
whose plot they have become entangled…”]
[“…Connie Carter was found during last night’s episode… Mrs. Santos,
whom the other members of the party has suspected of ‘double crossing’
them, proved her good faith by taking them to the room where Connie
was hidden safely away. Connie told the story of her capture in the
monastery and how the hideous creature known as the Werewolf, turned
upon her captor, who was one of the Mayan masters. The members of the
party, headed by Mrs. Santos, entered the city of the sun, disguised as
Mayans. Mrs. Santos disclosed a plan of destroying the city by
dynamiting a wall of sandstone that holds back a mountain lake from a
lake of molten lava. Feeling that this was the only way to save civilization,
the others agreed to her plan. They discovered Montezuma’s treasure
while waiting to put their plan into execution…”]
September 19, 1930 [PART 10] “What Happened to Three Women”
[OG-NOTE: Originally announced as “What Becomes of Three Women.”]
[“…The secret passageway to the room full of gold hidden by Montezuma
over 400 years ago is discovered by the explorers… In this episode the
explorers are getting ready to blow up the city which is the stronghold of
the powerful faction of priests known as the Brotherhood of the Sun. In
doing so they may also cause their own deaths…”]
[“…Tula, the mystery girl, it was revealed, was the daughter of Mrs.
Santos, who led Dr. Carter and the rest of the party against the Mayans
who had threatened to destroy civilization. The head of the movement
against civilization was not a Mayan, but an English anthropologist, who
had become a victim of the hallucination that he was the re-incarnation
of the head of the Mayan cult. The means by which he planned to destroy
civilization was also revealed. A chemical that disintegrated the cells of
the human body, was to be spread over the entire world in the form of
fine powder dropped from planes. It was in one of these planes that Tula,
shaking off the Mayan yoke, flew to the rescue of her mother and the rest
of the party when they blew up the City of the Sun and destroyed the last
living evidence of the birth of civilization…”]