Category: Amazing World of Radio

Feed for the Amazing World of Radio podcast.

CBS Radio Workshop: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (AWR0262)

Amazing World of Radio

A radio biography of the White House, from John Adams to Woodrow Wilson.

Original Air Date: November 2, 1956

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Lux Radio Theater: The War of the Worlds (AWR0261)

Amazing World of Radio

Today’s story:

Martians invade the Earth in the mid-1950s.

Original Air Date: February 8, 1955

Originating in Hollywood

Starring: Dana Andrews as Dr. Clayton Forrester; Pat Crowley as Sylvia Van Buren; Les Tremayne as Major General Mann; Herb Butterfield; Bill Bouchey; Parley Baer; Paul Frees; Ken Peters; Howard McNear; William Conrad; George Neise; Bob Bailey; Herb Ellis; Irene Tedrow; Don Diamond; Jack Kruschen; Frank Gerstle; George Baxter; Truda Marson; Edward Marr

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Theater Five: Incident on U.S. 1 (AWR0260)

Amazing World of Radio

The late James Earl Jones left an indelible mark on popular American culture. His biggest roles as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in the Lion King, and playing Author Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams. Yet, as the Internet has been flooded with James Earl Jones clips, the breadth of his impact on so many cultural areas have become apparent: performing the Alphabet on Sesame Street in the 1960s, delivering a recitation of The Star Spangled Banner at the 1993 all-star game to his guest-appearance on The Big Bang Theory. And beyond these widely known appearances, he left a remarkable impression in small roles such as his scenes in The Sandlot or in obscure parts. For example, I remember him as Chief Thad Green on the PBS educational Dragnet Pastiche, Mathnet. There was so much that the Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning Jones did in his career.  

Yet, there was one medium that Jones barely worked in. Despite having one of the most magnificent voices of his generation, he rarely appeared in audio dramas. In a career that stretched from 1950s-2020s, I could only confirm four audio drama appearances by Jones. The last of these was in 2020 when starred opposite Angela Lansbury in the Audible Original production of Driving Miss Daisy 

Jones missed the apex of the Golden Age of Radio. By the time he made his Broadway debut in 1957, radio drama was in decline and the Golden Age of Network radio would end on September 30, 1962 with CBS’ cancellation of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and Suspense.   

Despite this, Jones did appear on the radio before any of his most-famous roles. In 1964, ABC began airing the New York-based anthology radio drama series Theater Five. The series aired five days a week and episodes were from various genres. You might hear a mystery on one day, a comedy on another, a science fiction tale the next day, and a drama the day after that. Actors appearing in the series included those who’d worked during the Golden Age of Radio and actors from the stage and soap operas that were produced in New York City.  

Jones appearance on Theater Five was a coup for both the radio series and Jones. Jones had established himself as one of New York’s best stage actors in both Shakespearean and contemporary roles and could be counted on to turn in a great performance.  Although he had made his film debut in Doctor Strangelove and had gotten an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance on the short-lived TV series East-West, Jones was relatively unknown out of New York.  Theater Five was syndicated on 100 stations throughout US and would offer Jones exposure to audiences who never heard him before. 

Paired with veteran character James McCallion, Jones played a desperate young man who enters a roadside diner with a gun in “Incident on U.S. 1” which first aired on May 4, 1965. The drama is generally ranked among the best of the series by Theater Five aficionados.  

A young man (James Earl Jones) gets more than he bargains for when he holds up a diner near the highway.

Original Air Date: May 4, 1965

Starring: James Earl Jones, James McCallion, Robert Dryden

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Theater Five 60th Anniversary Set: https://sites.google.com/view/theatre-5-60th-anniversary-set/home

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Heartbeat Theater: Joy of Life (AWR0259)

Amazing World of Radio

Today’s Story:

A woman struggling with depression turns to a Salvation Army major for help.

Original Air Date: October 14, 1966

Starring: Barbara Fuller as Kathy; Alan Bergman; Jay Jostyn

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Bob Hope Show: Guest: Zsa Zsa Gabor (AWR0258)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. In our final week, we focus on Zsa Zsa Gabor, who played Minerva in the final episode of Batman.

We begin by featuring her appearance on the Bob Hope Show. In this episode, Bob tries to clear up a misunderstanding between Zsa Zsa and announcer Bill Goodwin but finds himself smitten with her.

Originating in Hollywood

Starring: Bob Hope; Zsa Zsa Gabor; Margaret Whiting; Bill Goodwin; Sheldon Leonard

Original Air Date: November 27, 1953

We then take a look at the final episode of Batman, “Minerva, Mayhem, and Millionaires”, in which a spa owner uses a mind-reading gadget to steal secrets from her millionaire clients to stage high-priced robberies.

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Appearance on KOND Radio (MP3)

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Mr. Chameleon: The Unwanted Child Murder Clue (EP4470)

Karl Swenson

Today’s Mystery:

A man is murdered after having a fight with his wife over their child.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 19, 1949

Originating from New York City

Starring: Karl Swenson as Mister Chameleon; Frank Butler as Sergeant Dave Arnold

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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

Screen Director’s Playhouse: Lifeboat (AWR0257)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week, we focus on Tallulah Bankhead, who played the Black Widow in a season 2 two-parter.

We begin by featuring the Screen Director’s Playhouse’s adaptation of the Alfred Hitchcock film Lifeboat, where Bankhead reprises her original screen role.

Original Radio Broadcast: November 16, 1950

Starring: Tallulah Bankhead as Connie Porter: Jeff Chandler as Kovac; Sheldon Leonard; Roy Glenn; Anne Diamond; Barbara Eiler; Henry Roland; Herbert Wilms

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After the drama, we talk about the season 2 two-parter, “The Black Widow Strikes Again” and “Caught in the Spider’s Den”

 

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Edgar Bergen Show: Guest Star: Liberace (AWR0256)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week we focus on Liberace, who played music-based villain Chandel and his gangster brother, Harry, in a season two two-parter of Batman.

We begin by featuring an episode of the Edgar Bergen Show. Bergen confronts Charlie McCarthy about his run-in with the law and then tries to explain the three wise monkeys to Mortimer Snerd. Then we learn the historic events behind, “The Discovery of Liberace” and how he began as a song plugger working for Charlie McCarthy.

Original Air Date: January 17, 1954

Featuring: Edgar Bergen as Himself, Charlie McCarthy, and Mortimer Snerd, Liberace, Ray Noble, Jack Kirkwood, and Gloria Gordon

After the show, I talk about the season two two-parter “The Devil’s Fingers” and “The Dead Ringers” from 1966.

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Favorite Story: Mister Shakespeare (AWR0255)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week, we look at Vincent Price, who played the recurring Batman villain Egghead in seasons two and three of Batman (1966).

We begin by featuring an episode of Favorite Story. 

William Shakespeare is brought forward to the 1940s to write Hollywood pictures.

Original Air Date: January 14, 1947

Starring: Vincent Price as “Will” Shakespeare; Betsy Blair; Chilius; William Conrad

After the drama, I talk about the season two two-parter “An Egg Grows in Gotham” and “The Yegg Foes in Gotham” from 1966.

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The Eternal Light: Honey on the Book (AWR0254)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week we turn our focus to Eli Wallach, a legendary character actor from plays like The Rose Tattoo, and films like The Magnificient Seven and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. During his career he won an Emmy, a Tony, and a BAFTA Award, as well as an honorary Oscar. He also portrayed Mr. Freeze in the final two episodes of season 2 of Batman in 1967, “Ice Spy” and “The Duo Defy.”

This week we present an episode of The Eternal Light.

Wallach plays Louis Rabinowitz, a Lithuanian-born immigrant who becomes a successful businessman but is driven by his love of learning and culture to become a philanthropist and patron of great arts and culture, dedicating his life to preserving culture and supporting Jewish institutions of learning.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: January 26, 1958

Originating in New York

Featuring:  Ronnie Liss; Joseph Julian; Dean Olmquist; Alice Yourman; Guy Repp; Harvey Hayes; Charles Webster; Patsy Bruder; Marion Carr; Roger De Koven; Joseph Bell

Narrator/singer: Theodore Bikel

We then take a look at the season two two-parter, “Ice Spy” and “The Duo Defy”, in which Mr. Freeze kidnaps a scientist who has discovered an instant freeze ray in order to blackmail the world.

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Buy Batman Season 2, Episodes 59 and 60 on download. (affiliate link)

References:

Information on Louis M. Rabinowitz from Yale

TCM Tribute to Eli Wallach

To the Bat Poles: The Bat Scholar’s Review on this episode

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Let Yourself Go: Guest: Al Jolson (AWR0253)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week our focus is on Milton Berle, who played Louie the Lilac in two separate episodes during Batman‘s third season. We focus on Louie the Lilac’s first eponymous appearance.

We talk about Milton Berle’s extensive career, which included his position as the first TV superstar, earning the nickname “Mr. Television”. Berle’s career extended into the 21st Century but had its beginnings in vaudeville and radio, with a variety of programs throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

We play the only surviving episode of Berle’s 1944-45 comedy variety program, Let Yourself Go. 

Milton is planning for a summer vacation, but wants to hire a young crooner who won’t be a threat to his getting picked up in the fall. However, complications ensue when the legendary Al Jolson shows up to apply for the job.

Original Air Date: June 6, 1945

We then take a look at season 3 episode 7, “Louie the Lilac”, where Louie has a plan to control the future via the flower-power generation by taking over the mind of their leader, Princess Primrose. With Commissioner Gordon indifferent, it’s up to the terrific trio to foil his evil scheme.

Milton Berle segment from “The Comedy Hall of Fame Awards”

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Suspense: On A Country Road (AWR0252)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This time we turn to Ida Lupino, who played Cassandra Spellcraft, alongside her then-husband Howard Duff, who played her bumbling sidekick Cabala in the 1968 episode, “The Enchanting Doctor Cassandra”.

We begin by featuring an episode of Suspense in which they appeared together.

A wife and her husband (Lupino and Duff) take a shortcut down a country road where a deranged woman has escaped from a mental institution and already killed. They then run out of gas and find a woman screamning at them demanding to be let in their car.

Original Radio Brodcast Date: May 10, 1959

We then take a look at the Season 3 Batman Episode, “The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra”, where Lupino plays the titular alchemist who has figured out the secret of invisibility and has a daring plan to take care of the Terrific Trio and rule Gotham City.

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The Magnificient Montague: Montague’s Father (AWR0251)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This time, we turn to Art Carney who played the Robin Hood-inspired criminal the Archer in the Season 2 opener, “Shook a Crook Arrow” and “Walk the Straight and Narrow.”

We take a look at an episode of the 1950s NBC Sitcom The Magnificient Montague, a sitcom about an out-of-work Shakespearean actor forced to secretly take a job as the lead in a radio soap opera.

In this episode, plans for the celebration of the Magnificient Montague’s (Montey Wooley) silver jubilee in the theater are complicated by the arrival of his father, the Great Montague (Carney). Things get even worse when Montague’s Father learns of Montague working anonymously on a soap opera and threatens to expose him if he doesn’t quit.

Original Radio Braodcast: January 5, 1951

Starring: Montey Wooley as the Magnificient Montague, Art Carney as the Great Montague, Anne Seymour as Lily, Pert Skelton as Agnes,  John Gibson, John Griggs

After the podcast, I talk about the Season 2, Two-Parter “Shook a Crook Arrow” and “Walk the Straight and Narrow.” from 1966.

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Lux Radio Theater: Sangaree (AWR0250)

 

 

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week, we turn to Cesar Romero, who played the Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker.

For this week’s episode, we’re joined by the lawyer Tom Fox of the Compliance Podcast Network.

We takea look at Sangaree from the Lux Radio Theatre, where Romero plays an ex-indentured servant and doctor who returns from the Revolutionary War to fulfill the dying wish of his benefactor, and goes to Georgia to run the family plantation over the objection of the deceased’s headstrong daughter (Anne Blythe) and has to deal with lawsuits, pirates, and plague.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: January 25, 1955

Cast: Cesar Romero as Dr. Carlos Morales; Arlene Dahl as Nancy Darby, Lamont Johnson, William Conrad, Carleton Young, John Sutton, Herb Butterfield, Frances Robinson, Edward Marr, William Walker, Jack Kruschen, Leo Britt, Bill Bouchey

After listening to and discussing the program, we talk about the Joker two-part episode from season one: “The Joker Trumps an Ace’ and “Batman sets the Pace.”

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Screen Guild Theater: The Devil and Ms. Jones (AWR0249)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series.

For this week’s episode, we’re taking a look at Van Johnson who played the role of the Musical/Electronics Genius, The Minstrel.

For our Old Time Radio program, we present the Screen Guild Theater presentation of The Devil and Ms. Jones. 

The richest man in the world, Merrick (Guy Kibbe) goes undercover in a department store he owns where employees led by a forceful charismatic young man named Joe (Johnson) burned him in effigy. Merrick hopes to use Joe’s kindly girlfriend (Donna Reed) to find out the names of those involved in the action.

Also features Howard Duff

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 12, 1946

After the podcast, we talk about the Season 2 Batman two-parter “The Minstrel’s Shakedown” and “Barbequed Batman” from September 21 and 22, 1966

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