2019 has been a year of preparation for me - preparing for a new phase in my life. The shape this blog will take in 2020 will likely be somewhat different. I can't promise the frequency of posts will be anything consistent, nor what kind of content I'll be presenting. So, to all of you who visit this odd old blog, I thank you very much for visiting in 2019 and hope you'll hang around for 2020! Have a great New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year!
Have you heard the strange stories of The Whistler?
I don't often blog about The Whistler. In fact, although it's been a favourite program of mine for as long as I've been a fan of old-time radio, I haven't sought each and every existing episode the way I did Suspense, Escape, Quiet, Please or The Shadow. Recently I've been listening to each of the episodes I hadn't heard before.
Unlike a lot of other radio mystery anthology programs, The Whistler wasn't sold on the basis of its talent. It did have a lot of talent behind it - the best dramatic players CBS Radio had - but it had no big name Hollywood stars like Suspense, nor did it trumpet the names of its authors like Murder by Experts. The selling point of The Whistler was simply, as they said: "Even when you know who's guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the final curtain." And that was enough to sustain The Whistler for 13 years!
Unlike programs such as Suspense and Escape where certain production choices (or sponsors) help the listener to identify different "eras" of the show, after its first season The Whistler sounds very much the same year after year. The same sponsor (Signal Oil), usually the same Whistler (Bill Foreman) and frequently the same actors (William Conrad, Elliott Lewis, Betty Lou Gerson). Not only is it consistently solid and professional, but you can likewise expect that "startling surprise" near the end of each episode.
The first year of the program is a bit clumsy in how it handled the "startling surprise". Far too often the Whistler would narrate a twist as a post-script to the drama rather than the actors performing the twist. At times it feels similar to those scenes at the end of Alfred Hitchcock Presents where Hitchcock would (jokingly) claim that the killer didn't really get away with his crime. Sometimes the "startling surprise" was extremely complicated and resulted in a lengthy bit of exposition as the Whistler explained how several characters had different motivations than what we assumed. Listening to that first year, the "startling surprise" feels like a cheat - it doesn't fit organically with the drama as presented, instead somewhat extraneous to it.
Fortunately, the show figured itself out very quickly and from then on would dramatize the "startling surprise", frequently building up to a moment where the criminal has seemingly gotten away with his crime, but after a brief interruption from the Whistler the story continues and we see a sudden reversal of fortune for the protagonist, usually owing to some simple mistake which was telegraphed earlier in the drama.
Not every "startling surprise" is great, but it's always a pleasant program to listen to. In fact, the "startling surprise" isn't always that the criminal got caught - sometimes it's that the crime you thought was going to happen didn't, leaving the protagonist unblemished.
For instance, there's a fantastic holiday episode entitled "Letter from Cynthia" (broadcast December 25, 1949) in which a physician is reunited with the man who ruined his career. He realizes his old enemy is now within his power and he could kill him as an act of revenge, a perfect crime for which he could never be caught. The episode builds up to the moment where the physician has taken action; then the Whistler reveals the doctor chose to spare his old foe's life. That seems like a very modest reveal... but the drama isn't over. The story continues as "the startling surprise" occurs and boy, it's a good one! This is possibly my favourite episode of The Whistler!
And, what do you know, it's Christmas in two weeks! What better program could I have signed off with? Merry listening, friends!
So today I'm going to wrap up my thoughts on my least favourite radio programs and disagreeable noises ultimately have the greatest impact.
There are plenty of old radio shows with cheesy or even lousy writing. Any fan who claims The Witch's Tale "still holds up" as a scary program is someone I can't take seriously; it's overwritten, lacking in sound effects and often woodenly performed. But I'm not too bothered by The Witch's Tale - it's a relic of its time and occasionally good campy fun.
I'm also not down with those Carlton E. Morse fans who think I Love a Mystery was the greatest program on radio. It's okay, but I find Morse mostly dull and repetitive; I noticed particularly with his series Adventures by Morse (one of the few fully-intact Morse programs) how much of each multi-part serial is taken up by characters recapping the plot to each other and speculating about what's going on. Sometimes there is no direct menace beyond a character stating, "maybe we can't trust them!" which typically indicates a red herring. Still, overwritten as it is, Morse's shows are carried by their performers.
There are two programs which I think are great illustrations of bad dramatic radio and which get my vote for 'worst of the worst': Rocky Fortune and Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator.
As I stated yesterday, both shows were produced on NBC in the 1950s with tiresome canned music, which doesn't help them. But where the shows really fall down is in the acting department. These are radio programs which cause me to switch off my player when they come up. In the case of these two shows, it isn't because of 'funny voices' or poor writing, rather it's the lead performers.
Rocky Fortune was led by Frank Sinatra. I don't consider myself a Sinatra fan, exactly, but he was normally a pretty adept and energetic performer; in Rocky Fortune, though, he was asleep at the wheel. The intro to the series describes Rocky as "that footloose and fancy free young gentleman" but all of that is contradicted by Sinatra's performance: he sounds tired. Very tired, and possibly bored. You would expect a certain lightness in Sinatra's performance like that of Dick Powell in Richard Diamond, Private Detective, but Sinatra couldn't muster it up. It is painful to hear Sinatra deliver "wise guy" dialogue in a tone which sounds like he just finished a turkey dinner.
Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator was performed by William Gargan. He was a decent film actor, although certainly never a major player. On the radio, however, he's dull. His voice on Barrie Craig is flat, disinterested. I have heard a few episodes of Barrie Craig but I couldn't recap any of the plots afterwards (whereas I could manage that with Rocky Fortune). Gargan's monotone narration obliterates anything of interest from that series; I now switch off my radio when this one appears (and unfortunately my local station, QR77, does play it fairly often). It has my vote for the all-time worst series in old-time radio.
Okay, I've been a little negative for the last two days. Tomorrow I'll share something positive.
Sound effects and music definitely have their place, although I'm not terribly concerned by them. One of my favourite programs is Quiet, Please, a low budget series which had extremely limited music and sound effects, yet never felt lacking; the series' author, Wyllis Cooper, wrote within the program's budgetary limitations.
Occasionally, though, I do find the music in old-time radio shows to be a bit tiresome. During the 1950s as budgets were slashed, programs began using canned music. It was especially a problem on NBC radio, where the same music tracks would show up on X Minus One, The Chase, Rocky Fortune, Cloak and Dagger, and Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. It's not that the music is bad, it's that hearing the same music every episode (to say nothing of the same casts) creates a sense of genericness; it's especially difficult to 'binge' those shows.
But let's consider performances. A fantastic script can be ruined by a poor performance. A funny line can be stifled by unfunny delivery. And when the script isn't great to begin with, a poor performance hurts it even more.
I can only share my opinions. I've mentioned before that I when I first became interested in old-time radio, comedy programs were the hardest for me to appreciate. I had enjoyed Abbott & Costello's movies when I was a kid, but I don't like their radio program; The Abbott and Costello Show has a few great routines by the duo, but so much of the humour is centred around 'funny voices'. Nothing turns me off comedy of the 1930s-50s more than 'funny voices'.
First, I had to make a distinction between 'funny' and 'peculiar'. It took time for me to warm up to shows like The Great Gildersleeve or Fibber McGee and Molly, but beneath the superficial 'peculiar voices' characters have, there is some good comedic writing; neither program is a favourite of mine, but for the most part (Molly's 'Teeny' character being an exception), the jokes on those program are not simply "hey, this character talks funny!"
There are a host of shows I tend to steer away from simply because those 'funny voices' grate on me. Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy; Baby Snooks; Blondie; Amos 'N' Andy. I've never been too wild about The Fred Allen Show either, and not simply because I'm a Jack Benny fan (or because Allen's humour was too topical, although it rather was) but because Portland Hoffa's off-key voice put me right off.
Although I've never been fond of the 'squeaky voiced teens' of The Aldrich Family, I do appreciate that program has very clever writing; it isn't a favourite, but I don't always mind listening to it. On the other hand, the imitation program Archie Andrews has a cast which is almost entirely 'squeaky voiced people'. The in-studio audience laughed every single time someone's voice creaked; I find that program interminable.
Tomorrow I'll share some thoughts about which old-time radio programs are the worst.
Today it was reported actor Rene Auberjonois has passed away, aged 79.
Auberjonois played the character of Odo for all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; he portrayed my favourite character on that, my favourite Star Trek series. I don't think Odo was (or is) an easy character for most viewers to relate to, but I was drawn to how Odo wanted to be liked and accepted by the people who surrounded him, yet did not want to alter his behaviour to accomodate others; I suppose I related to his strong introversion. It's also somewhat ironic that he portrayed a shapeshifter who was extremely against change; a semi-liquid being who was the most rigid person on the station.
I also came to appreciate how amazing Auberjonois' performance was, considering he wore a mask over his face. He couldn't emote with any facial tics other than his eyelids, yet he conveyed so many different moods from Odo through that mask.
I haven't seen much of his non-Star Trek work (M*A*S*H, The Little Mermaid, Justice League, Panache) but it was always pleasant to stumble across him and his quite-distinctive voice. Rest in peace, Mr. Auberjonois.
As my Dad loved sharing films from his childhood with me when I was growing up, I developed an early appreciation for classic cinema. As I became a teenager and began to develop certain tastes in film, classic film was my gateway into a wider appreciation for movies. In those days I read the newspaper film reviews (Edmonton Journal & Calgary Herald) every week, watched Siskel & Ebert on television and read every guidebook to film that I could. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the non-English films which critics were always championing, nor did I think I could handle 'artsy' motion pictures from recent decades, but Hollywood films of the 1930s-1950s were at least of a type I was familiar with and could be pretty certain wouldn't expose me to any disturbing content.
Almost a decade ago I composed a list of movies I wanted to see. I started it by listing movies by filmmakers and actors whose work I already enjoyed and wanted to see more of; it expanded as I delved into lists written by critics, not only of "all-time bests" but best-of lists for specific genres of films. It was a massive list and took me several years to get through. While I had the list to go through, I was watching movies all the time; I would plan out my evenings, often watching 3 per night if I had no other plans.
I'm sharing all of this because I want to make it clear that I have watched a lot of films; I've watched films in a variety of languages from many different countries from every possible decade and every genre type. Compared to the average movie fan, I'm quote-unquote an authority. And yet I'm still grappling with this question: What is the difference between a good movie and an enjoyable movie?
For example, one of the first films I watched on my massive list was The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. I had read reviews which praised the film to the utmost and it didn't disappoint. I have absolutely no reservation about ranking The Seven Samurai a 10/10 film, a perfect movie. Is it one of the greatest movies ever made? Sure, certainly! Yet for all that, I've only seen The Seven Samurai the one time.
By contrast, I think I've watched the lowbrow comedy film The Naked Gun (directed by David Zucker) four times. Do I think The Naked Gun is a better movie than The Seven Samurai? No... depending on what you mean by "better".
Part of why it was so easy for me to watch every film on that massive list I put together is that with today's ready-availability of motion pictures, you can see virtually any film you want when you want to; at the very least, it's bound to be available for online rental somewhere. But after you've seen a movie once, why watch it a second time? Even if you recognize The Seven Samurai as being a cut above other run-of-the-mill motion pictures, why does it require a second viewing?
I certainly admire The Seven Samurai more than The Naked Gun. I'm happy to put it up on a pedestal. But the first time I saw The Seven Samurai it was all new to me - everything was a discovery. If I were to watch it a second time, there are certain things which I, as the viewer, would have to bring with me -- baggage which an unpretentious comedy such as The Naked Gun doesn't share.
Almost all of the film criticism I grew up reading offered guidance for a first-time viewer; they were careful to omit 'spoilers' and principally concerned with helping the undecided viewer decide whether the film was worth their time or not. Considering the books I read came from the era of revival houses and home theaters, I wish a little attention were given to movies which have repeat viewing value. This was something critics would gush about when talking about Citizen Kane or other worthy classics, but what makes a film worthy of repeat viewings?
First, is the viewer watching the film alone or with an audience? When I share movies in my library with other people, I try to tailor it to what those people have already seen and enjoy. For instance, when I learned my parents hadn't seen any of Preston Sturges' comedies I made a point of showing them a Preston Sturges film every time they visited me until my library was exhausted. Comedies are one of the best genres to share with other people; when a group of people are all laughing at the same jokes, you aren't left wondering if your friends 'get' your proferred film.
Second, how much time does the viewer have? Do you have 3.5 hours to spend on The Seven Samurai? Or only 90 minutes?
Third, what is the mood of the viewer? Do you want to play detective and pick out details you haven't noticed before? Do you want to meditate on the film's style, content or performances? Are you in the mood for challenging or even upsetting content? Are you seeking escapism through adventure? Comedy to help you through a difficult time?
There are movies which I think bear up extremely well on repeat viewings. It might helpful to consider films where mystery is an important component of the story. Dark City by Alex Proyas is such a film which revolves around a mystery. I find the solution to that mystery extremely satisfying and even provocative. For those reasons, I've been able to watch Dark City again and again; indeed, I think I've watched it once per year since I first saw it circa 2010. Even though I watch the film now knowing how the plot will turn out, I still enjoy seeing the mystery unravel; in fact, I think I enjoy more as I notice additional details which hint at the solution which weren't apparent on first viewing.
On the other hand, we have Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. When I watched this film, I was enjoying it quite a bit and wondered where it was heading. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed with the climax of The Prestige, to the point that I have never watched the film again, nor do I wish to. In that situation, the solution to the mystery did not heighten my enjoyment of the film, rather it spoiled my enjoyment of every scene prior to the climax.
Movies such as The Seven Samurai are easy to put up on a pedestal, but films aren't supposed to be placed behind a glass case to be admired - they're meant to be watched. Critics have frequently despaired at how audiences reward (what critics term) by-the-numbers fare while meanwhile (what critics term) artful films are neglected. There are plenty of artistic films I love and wish enjoyed wider appreciation, but at the end of the day I wonder: what is the difference between a good movie and an enjoyable movie? I realize that by every standard which film critics have preached at me for decades, The Seven Samurai is a triumph of cinema and one of the greatest movies ever made; and yet, I'm kinda certain I'll have seen The Naked Gun for a fifth time before I watch The Seven Samurai again.
Although Scorcese has an enviable track record, his 2016 film Silence fared very poorly at the box office. Since 1990, it had been a passion project of Scorcese's, but he went through considerable difficulty getting it financed, as his earlier box office bomb Hugo had already scared off formerly-reliable investors.
After the failure of Silence, Scorcese made a deal to distribute his next few films with Netflix, which seems like the right move for him. To me, it feels like the audience for a strong adult drama would rather stream the film in their homes than venture out to the cineplex. Certainly I would not have paid $14 for the privilege of seeing Silence on the big screen, but I had no problem watching it on Netflix.
I'm not too interested in defending the merits of super hero films against Scorcese's argument because his argument is simply inflammatory trolling, not worthy of a counter-argument. It reminds me too much of another one of my film heroes, Roger Ebert, who in his latter years tried to claim video games were not art; thankfully, after a lengthy online series of arguments, he did that thing which people rarely do on the internet: admit he was wrong to present his opinion as though it were a fact.
My personal favourite project of Scorcese's is actually a documentary he made in 1995: A Personal Journey with Martin Scorcese Through American Movies. At the time I watched that film, I was actively looking for recommendations on great movies I should watch, and ultimately compiled a list of hundreds of movies which I then proceeded to see as I was able to (eventually I watched them all). A Personal Journey... features Scorcese talking about the history of cinema and introduces clips from a variety of unusual, somewhat-obscure films which Scorcese enjoyed. I wound up watching most of the films he presented; I didn't care for all of them, but there are many which I wouldn't have heard of if not for him. The single most valuable recommendation I received was for Kevin Brownlow's documentary Hollywood (and that documentary led me to seek out various other films).
And that's why I'm disappointed with Scorcese's ignorant remarks about super hero films. He has an open heart for films from his youth which fell under the radar, but he is intellectually uncurious about the films today's youth enjoy, yet feels compelled to share his uninformed opinion anyway. Certainly not all of the recent super hero films have been successes (just this year both Hellboy and Dark Phoenix bombed at the box office), but no one gets to decide whether a film is 'art' or not. One can express their opinion, but beware the elitist who wants to self-servingly define art to their own validation. How can the director of a piece of pulp novel trash like Shutter Island take umbrage with the dazzling creativity of Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok? I don't mind hearing Scorcese's opinions on film as a fellow lover of cinema, but I have no time for people seeking to (ahem) silence their competition.
Above all else, I reject dichotomous thinking. When anyone - elitist snob or rabble-rouser - tries to insist there are only two options (ie, "cinema" and "not cinema"), don't believe them.
Happy Halloween! As I close out my month-long tribute to Boris Karloff, let's check in with the series Lights Out one last time for the episode "Death Robbery" from July 16, 1947. This episode from the latter days of the series was apparently written by Wyllis Cooper, the original creator of the series (and friend of Boris Karloff). This concerns a scientist who has conquered death and restored a dead woman to life; it turns out that's a very bad idea... You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning to the classic radio horror series Lights Out and the episode "Cat Wife" from April 6, 1938, written by Arch Oboler. In "Cat Wife" Boris Karloff plays the husband of a shrewish wife... or should that be 'catty' wife? This episode is kind of ridiculous, but Karloff's performance is outta sight! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm looking at one of the best-known radio horror shows Lights Out! Apparently Karloff appeared on many episodes of the series in its early days, but unfortunately we have only fragments from Lights Out's long run. Today's episode, "The Dream", is from March 23, 1938 and was written by Arch Oboler. Boris Karloff portrays a man who has never dreamed before; when he finally does start dreaming, all the dreams compel him to commit murder! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! The Jack Benny Program. On the episode of January 19, 1947, Boris Karloff appeared in a sketch titled "I Stand Condemned". This was the second time Benny performed the sketch (the first was with Peter Lorre) but Karloff is simply wonderful in this rendition. The sketch features Benny as a condemned man who relates how a chance encounter with Karloff (or, "the fickle finger of fate", if you will) set him on the path of ruin. What follows is basically a satire of Inner Sanctum Mysteries. "Why must I always die in the end?" Karloff wonders. Most of the comedy shows I've featured with Karloff would have simply appear as himself and play the part of a generic 'boogeyman'. This episode has an actual plot for him to satirize! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Tales of the Frightened was a short program Karloff made in the 1960s. Obviously, the episode "The Vampire's Grave" has a compelling story for us Halloween fans! A vampire feeds on her new husband! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! This time I'm visiting a dramatic program called Stars on Parade. Boris Karloff starred in the episode "Big Man" on May 4, 1951. It features Karloff as a murderous husband out to kill his wife... but in doing so pushes himself to the brink of death. You can hear it at Youtube by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! This time I'm looking at Great Scenes from Great Plays, a series which adapted popular plays (as it says on the tin). On May 14, 1949 they adapted Paul Osborn's "On Borrowed Time", the story of an old man who traps Death up a tree. Karloff, naturally, plays the role of Death, himself (Mr. Brink). The story is a perfect blend of whimsy and darkness, which is pretty much what Karloff specialized in. You can hear it on Youtube by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! I'm still looking at the lighter side of Karloff; moving from comedies, I'm stepping into game shows with an episode of Truth or Consequences from October 30, 1948. Truth or Consequences is not always a great radio program because the games the contestants played were frequently visually-related. This episode is a little scratchy, but still... it has Boris Karloff! The episode was broadcast from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Boris drops in to help host Ralph Edwards celebrate Halloween by performing as a fortune teller in one of the games. It's actually a pretty clever stunt! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm looking at an episode of NBC University Theatre. This was an odd series where listeners could hear radio adaptations of great novels to assist themselves in correspondence classes. It led to a lot of adaptations of works which you would have otherwise never hear on radio! In this instance, it's an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel "The History of Mr. Polly", starring Boris Karloff in the lead role. Although Wells is still a widely-read author, this humorous novel is mostly forgotten today. The episode is from October 17, 1948. You can hear it at Youtube by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! After Frankenstein, possibly the greatest triumph of Karloff's career was his stage role in "Arsenic and Old Lace", where he famously lampooned himself by playing a killer whose face was altered to look like Boris Karloff! Unfortunately, he wasn't permitted to play the character in the film version (although Raymond Massey did a great job in his role) but thanks to the many radio adaptations of the play, we still have an idea of how great he was in the part. The Screen Guild Theater presented "Arsenic and Old Lace" on November 25, 1946. You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Once again I'm looking at one of Boris Karloff's comedy appearances. This time it's an episode of Fred Allen from November 18, 1945. Although Boris seemed pretty relaxed in the other comedy shows I've looked at previously, he seems kind of at a loss in this program; Allen was a notorious ad-libber, so perhaps the ad-libs were throwing him off?
I'm not much of a Fred Allen fan - I've enjoyed his appearances on Information Please and Jack Benny, but most of his own material is dated and corny. It's especially embarrassing to hear him joke about Benny being unfunny when his material has none of Benny's wit. Allen was great at ad-libbing, but his show's writers were pretty average of their time. The only highlight of this episode is when Karloff explains how he will create an atomic joke weapon! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring another episode of the radio comedy program Duffy's Tavern with Boris Karloff as guest star! The episode is from October 5, 1951, six years after the program I featured yesterday. A lot had changed in those six years - the recording quality is much sharper, but Ed Gardner's performance seems much more lethargic. This from the era where the radio program was being recorded in Puerto Rico for income tax purposes. The script is partially recycled from Karloff's earlier appearance. You can hear it at Youtube by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Now that I'm done with Creeps by Night, let's look at another of Karloff's comedy appearances. Duffy's Tavern was a pretty good sitcom which starred Ed Gardner as a bartender prone to malapropisms. Celebrities frequently appeared on the program as themselves - as in this episode from January 12, 1945 where Boris Karloff portrays Boris Karloff. Karloff has a lot of fun at his own expense. They also tell a few Bela Lugosi jokes, so if you consider yourself part of the 'Lugosi vs. Karloff' debate, you'll enjoy that! Karloff's primary reason for appearing on this episode is to star in a parody of Frankenstein; it's pretty great! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning to Boris Karloff's radio program Creeps by Night and the episode "Those Who Walk in Darkness" from June 20, 1944. In this episode, Karloff portrays an eye surgeon who has promised to restore his patient's sight -- but he's also the former love of his patient's wife! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning to Boris Karloff's radio program Creeps by Night and the episode "The Hunt" from May 9, 1944. This time out it's a werewolf story, which were something of a rarity in old-time radio! This is a great, moody tale as a werewolf strikes an estate nearby a swamp; Karloff plays the estate's owner, but is he also the werewolf? You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! In 1944, Boris Karloff was very briefly the star of his own radio horror series, Creeps by Night; perhaps the series took its name from the 1931 ghost story collection gathered under Dashiell Hammett's name? Karloff didn't stay with Creeps by Night for very long but it was a fairly high-quality program - I wish it had been more successful. There are only a handful of existing episodes.
Today I'm looking at "Final Reckoning" from May 2, 1944. In this tale, Karloff is a criminal out for revenge and armed with a razor! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning once more to the radio series Theater Guild on the Air and their adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" on April 5, 1953. Boris Karloff plays the part of the convict who befriends and finances the protagonist, Pip. Karloff puts in a great performance as the convict. You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning to the radio series Theater Guild on the Air and their adaptation of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" from December 24, 1950. Boris Karloff takes the part of the villainous Uriah Heep with Richard Burton as the protagonist David Copperfield. This is one of my favourite Dickens novels! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! For this (lucky) thirteenth entry I'm turning to the Theater Guild on the Air! The Theater Guild were a New York-based theatrical society who brought a number of popular plays to the radio. This episode from November 11, 1945 adapts two plays by Eugene O'Neill: "The Emperor Jones" and "Where the Cross Is Made", both plays featuring Boris Karloff. "The Emperor Jones" was a particularly notable play in its heyday as it featured a prominent role for a black lead and became a pretty provocative film starring Paul Robeson in 1933. Karloff's roles in both plays are pretty minor; perhaps he was just a fan of O'Neill? You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring an episode of Suspense: "Drury's Bones" from January 25, 1945. I've featured this one before on the blog - it's hard to avoid as it's the only surviving episode of Suspense to feature Boris Karloff (most of Suspense still exists but sadly, one of the 'lost episodes' starred Boris Karloff in an adaptation of John Collier's "Wet Saturday"). In this tale, Karloff portrays a Scotland Yard inspector who has been suffering from amnesia for years. While investigating a murder case, he's shocked to find his memories slowly returning! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm looking at a particular oddity in Karloff's career: The Royal Desserts Hour from May 5, 1938. This was a comedy/variety program hosted by Rudy Vallee with various skits, music and dramatic segments. Frankly, it's not very good material--the comedy segments creak in a particularly bad way. However, this episode features a brief horror story written by Arch Oboler (of Lights Out) entitled "Danse Macabre" starring Karloff! A man in a cemetery is visited by a violinist who summons the dead to awaken! You can hear it at Youtube by clicking here (starts at 42:30)!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm wrapping up my look at Karloff's appearances on the radio series Information Please with an episode from May 17, 1943. This time Karloff is joined by fellow special guest Jan Struther (author of Mrs. Miniver). In an interesting development, Karloff and Struther were in Hollywood while the program was being broadcast from New York; Struther uses Harpo Marx's horn to let moderator Clifton Fadiman know when she has an answer, while Karloff performs his famous growl from Frankenstein to get Fadiman's attention! Karloff has a lot of fun with the growls as the show progresses! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm returning to the radio series Information Please and an episode from February 20, 1942. This time, Karloff is joined by a fellow special guest from the realm of horror films: actor John Carradine! Carradine proves to be a fun contestant as his ability to quote Shakespeare is quite impressive! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Some of Boris Karloff's most interesting radio appearances were on the program Information Please, so I'm going to feature three of them on the blog. This time out, I'm looking at the broadcast from January 24, 1941. Information Please was a very interesting quiz program where listeners were encouraged to mail in questions and "stump the experts". In this broadcast, Karloff was one of two special guests, the other being Warden Lewis E. Lawes, author of the book 20,000 Years in Sing Sing. Karloff's specialty on Information Please proves to be fairy tales and nursery rhymes; the audience is quite surprised to find out how adept Karloff is on the subject! Little wonder he later recorded so many children's books! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I thought I'd look in on one of Karloff's comedy appearances. Karloff had a pretty good sense of humour and was certainly not afraid of making fun of himself. Many of his appearances on comedy shows tended to be alike one another; this time out I've chosen an episode of Bing Crosby from October 29, 1947. This was a transcribed program, as Bing was one of the first in radio to adopt transcription (he liked the convenience). Karloff shows up to help Bing celebrate Halloween and even sings a song with Victor Moore! Karloff was actually pretty adept at reading comedy - there's a moment where Bing starts to crack up, but Boris keeps to the script, a true professional! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring another episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries entitled "Death for Sale" from July 13, 1952. In this tale, Boris Karloff is part of a scheme to fake a man's death in order to collect on his insurance, but the plan goes awry several times over when the supposedly-dead man turns up wanting to alter the deal! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring another episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries entitled "The Wailing Wall" from November 6, 1945. Boris Karloff murders his wife and seals her body inside the wall of his house, Edgar Allan Poe-style... but also in the spirit of Poe, he finds himself haunted by noises and fears his crime will be discovered! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring another episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries entitled "The Corridor of Doom" from October 23, 1945. In this episode Boris Karloff plays a man in a hospital who has terrible visions of a 'corridor of doom' where he's being summoned to his death; but these visions might be more than mere dreams! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
Welcome back to my month-long tribute to Boris Karloff! Today I'm returning to Inner Sanctum Mysteries and the episode "Study for Murder" from May 3, 1942. In this pseudo-take on "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse", Karloff is a researcher into crime who decides the best way to understand it is to commit it! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
This month my theme is actor Boris Karloff, one of the all-time greatest performers in horror films! Karloff had a huge presence on old-time radio shows and his velvety-smooth accent made him a lot of fun to listen to. Radio also gave him a few opportunities to cut loose and tackle the kinds of roles he wasn't getting on the silver screen, so I'll feature a few examples of those during the month.
First, let's visit Inner Sanctum Mysteries and the episode "The Tell-Tale Heart" from August 3, 1941. It's based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe but only in the absolutely slightest sense of the word; Karloff plays a man with superhuman hearing who befriends a man with superhuman eyesight. Eventually it becomes a little like the Poe story. It earns a zero in terms of fidelity, but it's a pretty good Karloff performance! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!
All images this month from IMDB.
Published in November, 1948, Mysterious Traveler Comics #1 was the only issue of its series published and it was likewise evidently the only comic book published by Trans-World Publications! It's quite a little oddity in comics history, but also something of historical importance in comic book horror - after all, it predates the more famous horror comics published by EC Comics by one year.
The principal feature in this book is titled "Five Feet Down", drawn by Bob Powell. It's based on an episode of The Mysterious Traveler which had aired on February 9, 1947 and again on July 4, 1950. Unfortunately, both broadcasts are lost, but that just makes this comic an even greater collector's item for fans of the show. Powell depicts the Mysterious Traveler himself as a blank-faced figure (different from the later Ditko visualization, instead reminiscent of Ditko's Question!). The story concerns scientist Professor Dale, miner Tom and geologist Crane, who drill five miles deep into the Earth and discover a subterranean world inhabited by unseen creatures who apparently feed on humans! It's interesting that Powell never depicts the creatures beyond sets of eyes seen watching in the backgrounds. The text describes creatures with wings... it would have been neat to see Powell draw them, but leaving it to the reader's imagination seems appropriate, given the story's radio roots. It's also very interesting how much this story is reminiscent of the still-existing Mysterious Traveler episode "Behind the Locked Door" (first aired May 24, 1949), particularly the scene where the explorers find a pile of fish bones.
The second story is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", evidently drawn by Alan Mendel. This story is a reprint from a 1945 issue of Yellowjacket Comics. It's an extremely faithful adaptation with text taken directly from Poe, but the art is quite stiff - it's more like an illustrated story than a real work of comic book art. It's a pity that The Mysterious Traveler radio show didn't do adaptations of Poe the way other horror programs did.
The last full-length story is "Raw Deal", again by artist Bob Powell. This time, strangely, the story is an adaptation of the 1948 crime film. The story draws attention to its roots by listing the cast of the film and Powell does a great job rendering the likenesses of the actors to this comic. It does feel rather odd for The Mysterious Traveler, however - this comic is already a piece of licensing from a radio program, why is it also licensing a major motion picture? The best reason for a comic book to adapt a film is to draw the attention of the film's audience, but the cover doesn't promote the inclusion of "Raw Deal" at all. Also, The Mysterious Traveler was a New York radio show which featured only radio professionals in the lead roles - Hollywood movies aren't an obvious fit for the brand.
This comic also has three short featurse: a two-page story printed in black & white on the inside front & inside back covers called "The Grand Vizier's Reward" in which an Indian vizier invents the game of chess and tricks his patron into giving him a great reward; there's a two-page text story called "The Mystery of the Five Fingers" which is told by the Mysterious Traveler character; finally, there's an odd three-page feature called "Take a Trip to India" in which the Mysterious Traveler journeys around India, revealing various facts about the country to his readers. Comic books of the time had plenty of non-fiction features like this, but it's strange to see the horror host introducing these facts.
Although this proved to be the only issue of its series (and publisher), a few years later - once the Mysterious Traveler radio series was off the air - Charlton Comics started their own Tales of the Mysterious Traveler comic book series. That series has a following of its own because it featured some of the best 1950s work by the legendary Steve Ditko. Between OTR fandom and Ditko fandom, the Mysterious Traveler still has an audience; I'm lucky enough to belong to both fandoms. I've even blogged about Moonstone's attempt to create a new Mysterious Traveler series in the 2000s and in the more recent Tales of the Mysterious Traveler revival by Ditko, just prior to his death.
You can read this comic for yourself at The Digital Comics Museum.
Here's the promotional blurb:
Born in Canada; raised in Zambia; serving in Angola. Dr. Steve Foster has lived a remarkable life as a missionary surgeon, bringing what he calls "the benefit of steel" to relieve suffering people in times of war and poverty. Steve is one of many missionaries in his family, a lineage with more than 100 years of worldwide service. This is the story of Steve and his wife Peggy and how God shaped their lives for service in Angola, where they have been since 1978. As the Fosters' story is revealed to you in these pages, you will learn the history of Angola and its civil war and witness stories of miracles, dangers and heartbreak.
