The Shadow Without a Shadow, Part 1: Lights Out!

This week I'm doing something instead of my usual Radio Recaps. I'm going to look at three radio plays that were heard on the radio adventure series the Shadow but were also heard on other programs without the Shadow - hence, the Shadow without a Shadow!

Our first examples are the Arch Oboler scripts "Nobody Died" (first heard on Lights Out December 9, 1936) and the Shadow version "Fountain of Death" (from November 27, 1938). Because the Shadow version came second it means that Oboler had to add the hero to his script from whole cloth - there was no hero in "Nobody Died."

In "Nobody Died" we open on an old woman calling for Dr. Miller. The two men attending to this 84-year old woman are soon joined by the female physician Dr. Miller who goes alone to see the woman, Adelina.

Whereas "Fountain of Death" begins in a motorcar as Lamont explains to Margo they're going to meet Dr. Anna Marla. It soon transitions to the two greeting the female physician Dr. Marla, who explains there's a 95-year old woman in the next room named Mrs. Cronin. Dr. Marla, Lamont and Margo go to see the woman together.

From there the two are very similar as Dr. Miller/Marla speaks to the old woman and promises to help her. Dr. Miller/Marla injects the woman with a serum which causes her to grow younger. While in the Lights Out version Dr. Miller created her formula while testing on mice to cure cancer, in the Shadow Dr. Marla was trying to cure aging itself - but the exposition is very similar. In both, the youthened woman makes the same exclamations as she realizes she's young again.

Both scripts then have a musical transition to indicate the passage of time. In Lights Out one of the two men from the opening scene is revealed to be the mayor and brings "His Excellency" (later named Joseph Brown) to meet with Dr. Miller. Brown investigates Dr. Miller's laboratory and when she refuses to explain how she youthened the old woman, Brown forces her to inject the mayor with her formula, despite her objections that she doesn't completely understand the formula yet. The mayor becomes a young man

In the Shadow, three days after the injection Dr. Marla is confronted by Gorlan, who is someone she recognizes from her home country.

Then the two reach a similar point as Brown/Gorlan muses how the formula could create an "invincible" army of young men. Dr. Miller/Marla objects "you cannot make men young to kill-- make them young to live!"

In the Lights Out version, Brown sends an underling to take the woman's notebook from her; a gunshot is heard, suggesting the underling has shot Dr. Miller to death. In the Shadow, Gorlan wants Dr. Marla to hand him a vial of the formula so that he can replicate it; when she refuses, he shoots her himself. In both versions, Brown/Gorlan declares the doctor has committed suicide.

But the Shadow has to add another scene before we continue -- after all, Lamont is the hero of this version! Lamont arrives at Dr. Marla's lab and finds her dying; she tells him Gorlan has the formula and he vows he'll track him down. After a commercial break, Lamont is trying to find Gorlan but none of his sources have ever heard of the man. Lamont gets so excited that he starts to flub a line but very quickly corrects himself! Fortunately for Lamont he's telephoned by Tom Brady, the foreign correspondent of the Examiner. Brady tells Lamont he saw Gorlan booking a trip at a travel agency. Lamont assumes Gorlan is going to skip the country aboard a boat but Margo notes that due to a strike there are no ships sailing. Lamont finally realizes Gorlan is going to take a clipper ship back to Europe.

After a musical transition, Margo and Lamont arrive at the clipper ship and Lamont boards the craft. A steward directs Lamont to Gorlan's cabin.

Back in the Lights Out original, Brown arranges for the military to begin receiving the formula. Brown intends to overthrow his country's true leader (strongly implied as Hitler) as he schemes with his top general. Having tested the formula on 50 of his men, Brown finally injects himself with the formula, becoming younger and stronger. Just then he's visited by the other villager from the opening who has brought Adelina with him. The man reveals the formula has caused Adelina's mind continue to grow younger, leaving her very simple-minded. Brown is agitated as he begins to realize the implications for him, given the extremely large dose he took.

In the Shadow, Lamont invisibly enters Gorlan's cabin and mentally tricks him into revealing where he's hidden the formula. The Shadow confronts Gorlan and demands he give him the formula. Although Gorlan can't see him, he feels certain he can shoot the Shadow with his gun, given the cabin isn't that large. The Shadow points out a stray bullet could hit the gasoline. Realizing the truth, Gorlan reveals he already analyzed the formula and memorized it. Gorlan offers an alliance with the Shadow and suggests they drink a toast of wine to celebrate their partnership. The Shadow refuses but Gorlan drinks his wine. The Shadow notes that Gorlan drugged his glass with the rejuvenation formula but he switched the two glasses, forcing Gorlan to drink the formula.

Now, in the Lights Out version, Brown is overwhelmed by the effects of the formula, growing younger and younger (replaced by younger actors) until he's an infant (and possibly youthens out of existence- hence the title, "Nobody Died").

Whereas in the Shadow, the Shadow suggests that Gorlan is growing younger. Gorlan goes insane with terror and jumps out of the clipper to his death. In a wrap-up scene, Lamont explains to Margo that he stole the sample of the formula and instead poured a stimulant into Gorlan's wine that caused him to think he was getting younger. Lamont decided to destroy the sample of the formula so that no one could use the formula for evil.

Here are the two episodes in case you'd like to compare them for yourself:

On Wednesday: The Shadow and Suspense!

Radio Recap: Think

Think was a 1953 ABC radio anthology program that featured science fiction stories. The series is also referred to as ABC Radio Workshop; it was produced by John Ippolito and hosted by Dave Ballard. Unfortunately that's about all that I know about it. 1950s ABC radio has not received much attention from OTR fans. No one has yet determined how many episodes there were; we have two episodes of Think and we'll just have to extrapolate something from them.

"You - live in a world made by you. A world of fact and fantasy. But where does fact end and fantasy begin? This is a program to make you: Think"

What's interesting about those two episodes of Think is that both are very familiar stories to old-time radio fans. First, we have a production of Arch Oboler's play "The Word." This one was first broadcast on his program Arch Oboler's Plays in 1939. The story concerns two people who descend from the Empire State Building to find themselves the last people alive. This is a concept Oboler really liked - beyond producing it multiple times on his own, his 1951 movie Five was basically an extended version of "The Word." Think's adaptation is about as good as any of Oboler's versions.

The other episode is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story "Mars Is Heaven!" This one was also adapted for Escape and Dimension X, but Think's adaptation is a unique script, adapted by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The script makes an odd addition to Bradbury's story (an early sequence where radiation causes an astronaut to age rapidly) but otherwise it's very faithful to Bradbury's original text, moreso than the other radio adaptations.

These two episodes are so strong that I wish we had more examples to draw from; heck, information on Think is so scarce I half-expect to learn these were merely pilots and the programs were never actually broadcast.

You can hear the two surviving episodes of Think using the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library "Singles and Doubles" page at the Internet Archive; here's the file for "The Word" and here's the file for Mars Is Heaven!.

Radio Recap: Everyman's Theatre

Everyman's Theatre was a radio series that ran on NBC from the fall of 1940 to the spring of 1941. We appear to have only 4 circulating episodes at present.

Everyman's Theatre is notable because it was written and directed by Arch Oboler and was one of his first dramatic programs following his successful stint as the head of Lights Out. Of course, there's a lot of confusion in Oboler's back catalog with regards to what scripts belonged to which shows. He repeated scripts fairly often throughout his career - and some well-intentioned fans have circulated (for example) episode of Arch Oboler's Plays as though they were episodes of Lights Out.

Even thought Oboler didn't originate Lights Out, that's the program he's most identified with and I think it really helps fans to check out other examples of his work in order to better understand what specifically he brought to Lights Out, as opposed to what was carried over from Wyllis Cooper's heyday. Oboler claimed in the first episode that this series was one which was made for "every man and every woman." In Everyman's Theatre we get a few different sides to Oboler's writing; we get Oboler's the romantic, Oboler the human rights advocate and Oboler the horror producer. Just examine these four surviving episodes:

• "This Lonely Heart" (October 4, 1940) a dramatization of the love between Tchaikovsky and his "dear friend."
• "This Precious Freedom" (October 11, 1940) a businessman returns home to find fascism has taken root in America.
• "Cat Wife" (October 18, 1940) nagging wife becomes meowing wife.
• "The Women Stayed at Home" (December 20, 1940) a war widow tends to a German prisoner.

"This Lonely Heart" is perhaps the most instructive to OTR fans. It's told primarily by the female lead Nazimova as she presents a first-person singular drama but at various times other voices fade in to respond to her memories. The fade-in/fade-out voices were heard frequently in Lights Out and in "This Lonely Heart" he demonstrated it had uses outside of horror. But much of what remains of Everyman's Theatre is very much like Lights Out. "Cat Wife" is a notorious episode of Lights Out and one I think fans either love or hate; it's much easier to love the Lights Out version because Boris Karloff starred in it; Everyman's Theatre was not so honoured. But "This Precious Freedom" with Raymond Massey is an interesting and nightmarish drama about a fascist version of the USA. It is, however, a bit nebulous, the way in which the entire nation has changed so suddenly and no one wants to resist the authoritarian regime but also they don't want to warn Massey about what he's walking into; it's a bit surreal like Oboler's unfortunately campy film The Bubble, but Massey's performance remains very strong and carries the drama.

The Digital Deli has an excellent article and radio log about this program.

OTR Halloween Day 1: Arch Oboler's Plays

As I've often done in the past, all this month I'm going to make a daily feature on this blog where I examine spooky old-time radio shows in honour of Halloween. It was from listening to spooky Halloween shows on my local radio station that I first became a fan of old-time radio, so it's well worth honouring. Often I would select a particular series and look at 31 examples of its run but this time I'm going to choose a single episode from 31 different programs. Were there even 31 decent spooky old-time radio series that still have at least one surviving episode? Let's find out!

First up is Arch Oboler's Plays. This was Oboler's 'prestige' program, a dramatic anthology usually centered on social issues of the day. But of course, Oboler was also known for running the horror series Lights Out for many years and that program has overshadowed the rest of his body of work (and he was rather prodigious back in the day). In fact, a number of episodes of Arch Oboler's Plays are - even now - in circulation as episodes of Lights Out.

And to be fair, some episodes of Arch Oboler's Plays really do sound like an episode of Lights Out; take for instance "Crazytown." Like other episodes of the series, it focuses in a contemporary matter; being 1939, World War II was at the top of Oboler's mind. In "Crazytown," two members of an Italian bomber crew find themselves in a town inhabited by, well, crazy people. Hence, "Crazytown." From there it definitely plays out like an episode of Lights Out!

You can hear "Crazytown" on YouTube.

Lights Out Month Day 31: "The Author and the Thing"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It's the end of October and All Hallow's Eve! I'm concluding this month-long look at Arch Oboler's Lights Out, with, appropriately, Oboler's final episode "The Author and the Thing" (September 28, 1943). This is another venture into meta-fiction as the story features Arch Oboler himself as the star, trying desperately to create a monster for an episode of Lights Out but succeeding a little too well! Lights Out would return after this broadcast but only to air a few recycled Wyllis Cooper scripts.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

I hope you have enjoyed this year's Halloween feature. Have a safe Halloween!

Lights.

Out.

Everybody.

Lights Out Month Day 30: "The Immortal Gentlemen"

Today's episode of Lights Out by Arch Oboler is "The Immortal Gentlemen" (August 31, 1943) is a science fiction yarn which feels a little like H. G. Wells' The Sleeper Awakens at the outset. A man finds himself in the far future where immortality is a virtual guarantee for all; unfortunately, this means mankind has stagnated as new people with new ideas are unable to replace the old ones. This is one of the best science fiction tales of 1940s radio!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Tomorrow is Halloween!

Lights Out Month Day 29: "Sub-Basement"

On today's episode of Arch Oboler's Lights Out we bring in dinosaurs! This one is "Sub-Basement" (from August 24, 1943) and features a husband and wife who journey into a building's sub-basement and find something prehistoric is alive down there.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 28: "Murder Castle"

Today's episode of Lights Out by Arch Oboler brings to mind a real world criminal - H. H. Holmes, who was the subject of Erik Larson's book The Devil in the White City. Like Holmes, the villain of this episode, "Murder Castle" (August 3, 1943), has built a house full of death-traps which he unleashes against his guests. Of course, this story might just as well be said to be inspired by Bluebeard (I did so in a college paper). It's quite the revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 27: "Profits Unlimited"

Arch Oboler leaned pretty far to the left; it got him into a little bit of trouble post-war when he was wrapped up in the USA's anti-communist hysteria. Perhaps no episode of Lights Out is a more on-the-nose exploration of left-wing politics than "Profits Unlimited" from July 20, 1943. A woman learns she is the heir to an island factory maintained by staff who are essentially slaves, having had all willpower conditioned out of them after centuries of servitude. The woman is intent on giving the factory workers back their humanity, but that might be a step they're unable to accept.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 26: "The Visitor from Hades"

Today's episode of Lights Out is "The Visitor from Hades" which was first broadcast on July 13, 1943. This episode concerns a couple whose apartment is invaded by a creature whom only they can see. I think Arch Oboler's script falters a little in that beyond the monster looking terrible we don't get a good sense of why the couple are so distraught at seeing him, but the final reveal is good.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 25: "Nature Study"

I've alluded in earlier posts about Lights Out this month to how writer Arch Oboler had a particular set of principles and in his stories would punish people depending on how they stacked up. In "Nature Study" (June 22, 1943) we have perhaps the ultimate example of Oboler in 'divine punishment' mode. This story concerns the internal evils carried by its cast and who should be punished for them. It's pretty bleak -- and has no subtext to speak of!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 24: "Prelude to Murder"

Today's episode of Lights Out is an Arch Oboler classic; "Prelude to Murder" (June 15, 1943) provides access to the protagonist's thoughts, leading to long stream-of-consciousness dialogue, the type of which Oboler was a master of writing. This episode is particularly good because as the audience can hear the protagonist's thoughts, they're contrasted against what is spoken aloud. In this case, the show being what it is, the protagonist is a jealous husband who is slowly making up his mind to committ murder.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 23: "The Ugliest Man in the World"

"The Ugliest Man in the World" (June 1, 1943) is a Lights Out episode, but very much in the spirit of Arch Oboler's other program, Arch Oboler's Plays. As the title indicates, our point-of-view character is a very ugly man as we learn of his heartbreak and how he's driven to his own destruction.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 22: "Little Old Lady"

Lights Out could really commit to supernatural horror. It was usually pretty light on explanations for how its supernatural transpirings came to pass, but Arch Oboler had no problem going into weird, inexplicable events. Such a story is "Little Old Lady" (May 25, 1943), in which a young woman goes to visit her aunt Harriet with a college classmate. But it seems Aunt Harriet has a pet cat - a very big cat. Enjoy the ride!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 21: "The Spider"

Today I'm featuring one of my personal favourite episodes of Lights Out. "The Spider" from May 18, 1943 concerns two men in the jungle trying to make money by capturing and selling rare insects. Then they see a very large spider and get some unhealthy ideas about capturing it. The last quarter of this play is a long, rambling stream-of-consciousness reading, the sort of writing Arch Oboler had mastered.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 20: "Murder in the Script Department"

Lights Out would, occasionally, get meta. Today's episode, "Murder in the Script Department" (May 11, 1943) is set in the offices where Arch Oboler's Lights Out is produced as two women in the script department have a very bad night. One of those women is played by Mercedes McCambridge, so you know you're in for a great performance!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 19: "The Archer"

Lights Out was always an unusual show, but this one is a little offbeat by their standards. "The Archer" from April 13, 1943 (we'll assume 'Archer' was one of Arch Oboler's nicknames) opens with a woman being held hostage by kidnappers. A mysterious figure comes to her rescue, wielding a bow and arrows. But this ain't no comic book so there's no chance it's the Green Arrow...

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 19: "Execution"

As I've mentioned before, Arch Oboler frequently used his radio series Lights Out to comment on the contemporary rise of fascism, particularly in Germany. Such an episode is "Execution" (broadcast April 27, 1943). In this episode, a German takes relish in ordering a woman's execution - yet the same woman keeps appearing before him, proving he is the one who has been condemned!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 17: "Superfeature"

Today's I'm looking at Arch Oboler's Lights Out episode "Superfeature" from April 6, 1943. We like to think of 3-D movies as a phenomenon of the 1950s - one which Oboler himself inagurated with his movie Bwana Devil. But here's a story which anticipates the craze; what should happen if the monster on a movie screen should just happen to step out of the projection?

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 16: "The Flame"

Today I'm looking at the Lights Out episode "The Flame" from March 23, 1943 by writer Arch Oboler. This episode concerns a man who likes fire; unfortunately, the spirit of the flame likes him too and has a, uh, dangerous way of demonstrating her affections.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.