ABC MYSTERY TIME—“MYSTERY CLASSICS”

[RADIO-SERIES]

A conglomeration of shows appeared under this heading between 1953 and 1958. A series of

“Mystery Classics,” running on Thursday evenings, emphasized the weird and the supernatural.

ORIGINATION:

WABC, New York City, New York (ABC)

DURATION:

May 3, 1956-September 30, 1957.

PERSONNEL:

Clark Andrews (producer), Martin Andrews (producer), Robert A. Arthur (producer), Eleanor

Beeson (scriptwriter), Hector Chevigny (scriptwriter), Ronald Dawson (producer), Don Dowd (host), Robert

Foster (scriptwriter), Katherine Green (scriptwriter), Joseph Greene (scriptwriter), C. M. Roach

(scriptwriter), Howard Rodman (scriptwriter), John Roeburt (scriptwriter), Joseph Ruscoll (scriptwriter),

Sidney Slon (scriptwriter), Leonard St. Clair (scriptwriter), Ian Thorne (scriptwriter), John West

(scriptwriter).

GUEST STARS (Theatre Royalre-runs): Robert Donat, Sir Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Sir Ralph

Richardson, Orson Welles.

CASTS: Peggy Allenby, Ed Begley, Ralph Bell, Frank Butler, Roger de Koven, Ivor Francis, Richard Janover,

William Johnstone, Connie Lembcke, Ann Loring, Ian Martin, et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS

: “Half an Hour” (8/2/56), “Death Walked In,” “Four Fatal Jugglers,” “Four Time Loser,”

“Murder in Haste,” “My Adventure in Norfolk,” “No One Will Ever Know,” “The Overcoat,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray,”

“Success Story,” “The Suicide Club,” “The Tale.”

[CHRONOLOGY]

ABC MYSTERY TIME—“MYSTERY CLASSICS” (WABC, NEW YORK)

[Thursday—7:30-7:55 PM]

May 3, 1956The Queen of Spades

May 10, 1956The Judgment

May 17, 1956Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

May 24, 1956Markheim

[“…Sir Laurence Olivier stars as a man who murders for money, then

repents…”]

May 31, 1956

June 7, 1956The Suicide Club

[EXTANT RECORDING]

June 14, 1956

June 21, 1956

June 28, 1956

July 5, 1956

July 12, 1956

July 19, 1956

July 26, 1956

August 2, 1956Half an Hour

[EXTANT RECORDING]

August 9, 1956

August 16, 1956The Sire de Maltroit’s Door

[EXTANT RECORDING]

August 30, 1956The Killing at Lafayette Place

September 6, 1956

September 13, 1956

September 20, 1956

September 27, 1956

October 4, 1956

October 11, 1956

October 18, 1956

October 25, 1956

November 1, 1956

November 8, 1956

November 15, 1956

November 22, 1956The Fall of the House of Usher

November 29, 1956

December 6, 1956

December 13, 1956

December 20, 1956

December 27, 1956

January 3, 1957

January 10, 1957

January 17, 1957

January 24, 1957

January 31, 1957

February 7, 1957

February 14, 1957

February 21, 1957

February 28, 1957

March 7, 1957The Ivory Elephant

[“…concerns strange fate of a group of ivory hunters in a remote part of

Africa who have found treasure in an elephant burial ground…”]

March 14, 1957Hunting Trip

[“…Two former college friends and rivals in love go on a hunting trip…”]

March 21, 1957Suspicion

[“…concerns a jealous wife who makes a fateful error on her twentieth

wedding anniversary…”]

March 28, 1957The Locomotive Ghost

[“…Two robbers wreck a miners’ payroll train and are haunted by one of

their victims…”]

April 4, 1957

[“…the story of a mentalist who plots to control a man and force him to

kill an unfaithful wife…”]

April 11, 1957"Til Death Do Us Part

[“…A couple learns their honeymoon literally means…”]

April 18, 1957The Upper Berth” (F. Marion Crawford)

[“…A combined mystery and ghost story begins in a ship’s stateroom…”]

April 25, 1957Death Takes First Prize

[“…A street photographer takes a picture of a tenement girl who is later

killed…”]

May 2, 1957Death Rides the Storm

[EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…A dead woman comes back from the grave to prevent her husband’s

remarrying…”]

May 9, 1957The Third Grace

[EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…Bret Morrison, the original ‘Shadow’ on radio, is cast as an

unscrupulous art dealer…”]

May 16, 1957Shadow of Danger

[“…a young man fights for his sanity in a hospital where he suspects a

weird plot against his life…”]

May 23, 1957Ski Master

[“…An heiress-hunting ski expert is confronted by his pre-war wife…”]

May 30, 1957The Tell-Tale Heart

[“…the gripping story of a man’s conscience and his doom…”]

June 6, 1957I’ll Dance on Your Grave

[EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…A fickle girl dancer and the ruthless agent ‘eliminate’ the girl’s

husband-partner…”]

June 13, 1957

June 20, 1957

[Monday—7:30-8:00 PM]

June 24, 1957

July 1, 1957

July 8, 1957

July 15, 1957

July 22, 1957

July 29, 1957

August 5, 1957The Cask of Amontillado

August 12, 1957The Horla

[EXTANT RECORDING]

August 19, 1957The Cask of Amontillado

August 26, 1957

September 2, 1957

September 9, 1957The Lily Pond

[“…About an elderly lady who fights town officials and health

authorities…”]

September 16, 1957The Black Cat

[EXTANT RECORDING]
[“…Hector Chevigny’s adaptation of a story about a man obsessed by

aelurophobia.”

September 23, 1957Can Such Things Be?

[“…adapted by C. M. Roach from a story by Robert W. Chambers. The

ghost of a French soldier turned traitor in the British-Breton war of 1760

returns to haunt the descendant of the woman who caused his death…”]

September 30, 1957The Upper Berth

[“…ghost story set aboard a passenger liner…”]
MYSTERY TIME (AFRTS DISC SERIES)

September 27, 1957

[44] “

Death Rides the Storm

October 4, 1957

[45] “

The Sire de Maletroit’s Door

October 11, 1957

[46] “

The Third Grace

October 18, 1957

[47]

October 25, 1957

[48]

November 1, 1957

[49]

November 8, 1957

[50] “

I’ll Dance on Your Grave

November 15, 1957

[51] “

They’ll Never Believe Me

November 22, 1957

[52]

November 29, 1957

[53]

December 6, 1957

[54]

December 13, 1957

[55]

December 20, 1957

[56]

December 27, 1957

[57]

January 3, 1958

[58] “

Collector’s Items

January 10, 1958

[59] “

The Horla

January 17, 1958

[60]

January 24, 1958

[61]

January 31, 1958

[62] “

The Mysterious Mansion

Titles without dates:

Death by Proxy

Death Walked In

Four Fatal Jugglers

Four Time Loser

Murder in Haste

My Adventure in Norfolk

No One Will Ever Know

The Overcoat

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Success Story

The Tale