The Good Old Days of Radio Show

Today we bring you Boris Karloff. He's appearing here on Great Scenes from Great Plays in a strange fantasy, in which he plays Mr. Brink, the personification of Death himself. The story follows an elderly grandfather who discovers a way to trap Death in a magical apple tree. This will be the second time we've presented this story, but with a completely different cast. You can find the other version here, from the Screen Guild Theater, starring Lionel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead, and Vincent Price.

https://goodolddaysofradio.podbean.com/e/episode-98-on-borrowed-time/ 

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It's episode 500, and if you will forgive a self-aggrandizing episode, we think we've earned a show where we talk about The Good Old Days Of Radio Show for almost three hours. You may not want to hear this, but we're going back beyond the podcast, to the show's early beginnings on early '90s local radio, and even get to hear what John Tefteller sounded like back then. Then in the second half of the podcast, we are joined by the President of SPERDVAC Corey Harker and old time radio legends John and Larry Gassman, for a lively round table conversation about radio preservation. If you want a deeper appreciation for the programs you hear on this show, and what goes into it, (we think) this is a great episode you should listen to!

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Today, we dig into a rare Inner Sanctum Mystery broadcast, with a very early 1941 episode starring Myron McCormick. According to most sources, only a fragment of this broadcast survived, but we have a transcription disc containing the entire story, making this a real treat for fans of early radio horror. The story takes us to a remote Arctic mountain shrouded in legend, where a group of climbers sets out to find a missing explorer. Local stories speak of a cursed peak and an ancient frost god, but as the expedition pushes higher into the ice and snow, secrets from an earlier expedition begin to surface, along with a man willing to do anything to keep the truth buried.

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This week, we’re spending some time with Jack Benny and the gang in a March 1947 episode of The Jack Benny Program, as Jack gets ready for a vaudeville tour that will take him to Chicago and New York. Jack's sophisticated neighbor Ronald Colman is his guest on this show, and is forced to ride in his famously worn-out car. John shares a little background on the show's writing team and the feud between Jack Benny and Fred Allen.

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This week, we’ve got a rare find: Inner Sanctum Mystery with the long-lost 1944 episode “The Dream,” with an appearance by Orson Welles, of all people, as star on the show, at a time where Welles had reached the peak of his celebrity status. Host John Tefteller shares the story behind the recording, made by engineer Rudy Van Gelder. The story follows Judge Robert Branscolm, a respected man troubled by a vivid, violent dream, one where he murders a stranger with a silver-handled cane. Disturbing enough… until he finds himself presiding over a case involving that exact crime. A true rediscovery, and a great moment for vintage radio fans and historians alike.

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It’s the first Tuesday of the month again, and that means we’re bringing out a “lost” show. This week, we’re turning to comedy, and this one we consider quite special, as it belongs to the off-beat and somewhat infamous comedy series, The Henry Morgan Show. From about late in its first season in ‘47, most of the episodes are missing, which has left much about the series strictly lore. This is one of those missing ones, from an original transcription disc found on a sidewalk years ago. This is the finale of the first season, and Morgan takes aim at everything from breakfast shows to Lights Out! with his sarcastic style. It’s smart, fast, and a little ahead of its time. There’s even a surprise celebrity appearance, which you will just have to hear to believe.

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Today we’ve got a mystery for you, and we’re asking help from all amateur and professional researchers in our audience: help us figure out this episode of Lights Out! We know it’s an early one, and that’s about it. It comes with no confirmed title or air date. Instead of the usual supernatural chills, this one leans hard into gritty crime drama. It follows a gang of bank robbers whose plan unravels into a chain of double-crosses, jealousy, and murder, as each one tries to come out on top. As you’d expect from Lights Out, it all builds to a dark ending, with the final moments centered on a condemned man facing his fate.

UPDATE: A quick follow-up on this mystery show. Much of it remains unconfirmed, however we have been able to put together a series of educated guesses thanks to our friends Researcher Karl Schadow and Dr. Joe Webb. The first half-hour Lights Out show was broadcast on April 18, 1934. That places this one between that date and April 10, 1935. No titles are listed in any newspaper listings of that time, so we're no closer to a title. However, the introduction to the episode points strongly to it being an audition or the first episode of a new season. During the opening intro, the announcer states the program is broadcast Wednesday at Midnight. That day and time matches many newspaper log entries from 1934. That means the script would have been written by Wyllis Cooper. At the moment, that's what we are able to infer from the clues we have. 

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Today we’ve got a 1944 broadcast featuring Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks and the Wizard of Oz himself, Frank Morgan. They partnered together for a short time on Maxwell House Coffee Time, a condensed half-hour comedy/variety show. This version comes from an Armed Forces Radio Service recording, so instead of the original commercials, you’ll hear music filling those breaks, the way it went out to the troops during the war. This is a direct disc transfer, with no restoration, so it is a little scratchy. The show itself is classic Snooks chaos. Frank Morgan spins some wild stories about his “inventions,” while Snooks does everything she can to keep her poor father from getting a moment of peace.

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We go all the way back to 1939 for one of the earliest surviving episodes of Lights Out, the sum total of which you can count on one hand. This one follows two hardened criminals on the run after a string of brutal crimes, thinking they’ve finally found a place to lay low. But on a foggy night, they cross paths with a snappy-dressed stranger who knows far too much about them. From there, the story takes a dark turn. This show certainly pushed the boundaries of what could be done on the air in ‘39, with gory sound effects and torture scenes throughout that make you wonder how they got away with some of this stuff. It’s also a bit of an oddity, since it was based on a Lights Out! fan-fic.

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This week, we’re stepping into a big, star-packed 1946 radio special celebrating 45 years of Walgreens. Bob Hope plays host (and hotel owner) in a fast-moving comedy variety show signature of the era, filled with one-liners, sketches, and a lineup of big budget guests including (but not limited to) the Andrews Sisters, Frank Morgan, and Dennis Day. We’re not sure if this was really radio’s “biggest” show, but it was a live entertainment event, and a snapshot of radio at its peak, when big names, live music, and comedy all came together for a full hour of A-list Hollywood glam.

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