Boris Karloff Month Day 31: Death Robbery

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 30: Cat Wife

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 29: The Dream

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 28: I Stand Condemned

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 27: The Vampire's Grave

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 26: Big Man

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 25: On Borrowed Time

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 24: Truth or Consequences

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 23: The History of Mr. Polly

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 22: Arsenic and Old Lace

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 21: Fred Allen

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 20: Duffy's Tavern

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 19: Duffy's Tavern

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 18: Those Who Walk in Darkness

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 17: The Hunt

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 16: Final Reckoning

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 15: Great Expectations

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 14: David Copperfield

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 13: The Emperor Jones and Where the Cross Is Made

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 12: Drury's Bones

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 11: Danse Macabre

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)!

Boris Karloff Month Day 10: Information Please with Jan Struther

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 9: Information Please with John Carradine

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 8: Information Please with Lewis E. Lawes

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 7: Bing Crosby

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 6: Death for Sale

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 5: Birdsong for a Murderer

Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm featuring another episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries entitled "Birdsong for a Murderer" from June 22, 1952. The story concerns a murderer whose impulses can only be stifled by the noise of birdsong; Boris Karloff is trying to lead a quiet life when someone shows up to blackmail him; blackmailing a murderer is never a good idea, especially on an Inner Sanctum program! You can hear it at archive.org by clicking here!

Boris Karloff Month Day 4: The Wailing Wall

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 3: The Corridor of Doom

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 2: Study for Murder

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!

Boris Karloff Month Day 1: The Tell-Tale Heart

Once again I'm celebrating the month of October - leading up to Halloween on the 31st - by spotlighting some horror-themed old-time radio programs!

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.