“The Bells was first produced at the Royal theater, London, November 25, 1871, and performed at
that theater for 151 consecutive nights.”
December 13, 1924“The Bells”
production… Act I—Time: December 24, 1833. Place: Interior of a village
inn in Alsace, Christmas eve. (The inn is the residence of Mathias, the
burgomaster.) Selection, ‘The Merry Widow’ (Lehar), orchestra. Act II—
Time: The morning of December 26, 1833. Place: Best room in the
burgomaster’s inn. Selection, ‘Valse Orientale’ (Joyce), orchestra. Act
III—Time: December 26, 1833—night. Place: Bedroom in the inn.
Selection, ‘The Governor’ (Geibel), orchestra…”]
August 28, 1925“The Dream Scene from ‘The Bells’”
THE PACIFIC RADIO PLAYERS (KLX, OAKLAND)
September 11, 1925“The Bells”
concerns itself with an intensely dramatic episode in the lives of the
several characters. Under the direction of Etta Wilson Coleman the ‘lines’
have been especially adapted to radio presentation. Many rehearsals have
been found necessary to more adequately fit the play to the
microphone…”]
Etta Wilson Coleman (director).
Caryl Coleman (President of the court), Etta Wilson Coleman (Catherine),
Leo Cunningham (Christian), Everett Gordon (Mathias), Elizabeth Hugus
(Sozel), Rudolph Koslich (Hans), Dalton Rixon (Notary of the court), Madeliene
Sulik (Annette), Loran Thornton (Father Walter), Frank Young (Dr. Zimmer).
May 25, 1927“The Bells”
Everett Gordon (Mathias, burgomaster), James Ingersoll (Dr. Zimmer, a
physician), Ethel Johns (Catherine, the burgomaster’s wife), Rudolph Koslich
(Hans, a forest ranger / Mesmerist), Carlyle Partridge (Christian, French
quartermaster), Harriette Romayne (Sozel, servant at the inn), Harry Uridge
(Clerk of the court / Notary), Rose Wood (Annette, the burgomaster’s daughter),
Wilmot Wood (Father Walter, the village parson / President of the court).
June 22, 1927“The Bells”
HANK SIMMONS’ SHOW BOAT (WABC, NEW YORK)
June 13, 1931“The Bells, or The Polish Jew”
Simmons, in the role of Mathias, heads a role [sic] of ten players…”]
Hank Simmons (Mathias), Happy Jack Lewis (Christian), Joe Carroll
(Hans), De Witt Schuyler (Father Walter), F. Miller (The Doctor), George Morris
(The Mesmerist), Ben Franklin (The Judge), Leo Spelvin (The Clerk of the Court),
Lettie Simmons (Catherine), Maybelle (Annette), Jane McGrew (Sozel).
July 29, 1932“The Bells”
September 14, 1932“The Bells”
THE GEORGE EDWARDS PLAYERS (2UE, SYDNEY)
[
January 15, 1933“The Bells”
May 8, 1933“The Bells”
following the murder, on a wintry road, of an innocent man. The bells of
the victim’s sleigh continue to haunt his murderer until they finally drive
him to his death…”]
Peggy Allenby, Richard Gordon (Mathias), Florence Malone, Charles
Webster.
STARS IN THEIR COURSES (NATIONAL PROGRAMME, LONDON)
May 27, 1933“Sir John Martin Harvey”
James Agate (speaker), Sir John Martin Harvey (speaker).
[
A recording of Sir John Martin Harvey’s 1933 appearance onStars in Their
Coursesexists in the British National Archives; a portion of it was broadcast onThe
Archive Hourin 200?.]
THE GEORGE EDWARDS SUNDAY PLAYERS (2GB, SYDNEY)
[
July 2, 1933“The Bells”
November 16, 1933“The Polish Jew”
GREAT PLAYS IN HALF AN HOUR (2UW, SYDNEY)
[
February 21, 1934“The Bells”
Mayne Linton, Nancye Stewart, et al.
December 10, 1934“The Bells”
[
“… ‘The Bells,’ an adaptation by Leopold
Lewis of ‘The Polish Jew,’ by Erckmann-Chatrian, will be the Radio Guild
presentation… The play made memorable in dramatic history by the late
Sir Henry Irving, tells the story of Mathias, a burgomaster, haunted by
the consciousness of an undiscovered murder that he had committed…”]
GREAT MOMENTS IN GREAT PLAYS (WOL, WASHINGTON D.C.)
August 19, 1935“The Bells”
Moments in Great Plays’… Robert Pitkin will be starred. Directing will be
J. Forney Reese. A brief narrative will introduce each ‘moment’ pointing
out how the scene contributed to the success of the play from which it is
taken. ‘The Bells,’ one of the most gripping of ‘horror plays,’ will be used
for the inauguration…”]
February 6, 1936“The Bells”
Boris Karloff, et al.
[
An archival recording of this broadcast exists in the NBC Radio Collection
at the Library of Congress.]
March 22, 1936“The Bells”
Ray Collins, Martha Scott, Orson Welles, et al.
November 19, 1937“The Bells”
November 26, 1937“The Bells”
evening… This is the gory Sir Henry Irving plaster of a bygone day, with
Norman Fields as the inn-keeper who murders a Jewish peddler and
then suffers the strictures of an active conscience…”]
April 4, 1938“Henry Irving: Man and Player”
and Ellen Terry at the Lyceum Theatre in London, there is a glamour
about the actor’s name, and his ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Mathias’ in The Bells, have
passed into theatrical history. The broadcast, which has been devised by
Ernest Short and produced by John Richmond, will include the story of
these two performances, but no attempt will be made to impersonate
Irving in the characters…”]
May 13, 1938“The Bells, or, The Murder of the Polish Jew”
Joseph Bell (director), Joseph Hawty (music), Robert Waldrop
(announcer, narrator).
Vivian Barry (Sozell), George Gaul (The Mesmerist), Richard Gordon (The
Judge of the Court), Percy Helton (The Clerk of the Court), Junius Matthews (The
Doctor), John McGovern (Christian), Beatrice Miller (Catherine), Harry Neville
(Father Walter), Kay Phillips (Annette), William Shelley (Hans), Charles Webster
(Matthias).
EVERYMAN’S THEATRE—“IMMORTAL DRAMAS” (CKY, WINNIPEG)
June 7, 1939“The Bells”
staff, with a cast headed byMercer McLeod, popular Winnipeg player.
The opening broadcast will be the Erckmann-Chatrian play, made
famous by Sir Henry Irving. The moving drama of the Irving
interpretation has been retained in the radio version…”]
Gerald Rowan.
GREAT TALES OF IMAGINATION (CBM, MONTREAL)
August 11, 1947“The Bells”
Gerald Rowan.
Rupert Caplan (producer).
December 21, 1950“The Bells”
fear because of a murder he committed five years previously…”]
Gerald Rowan.
August 18, 1957“The Bells”
H. A. L. Craig.
R. D. Smith (producer).
August 21, 1957“The Bells”
August 12, 1966“The Bells”
R. D. Smith.
R. D. Smith (producer).