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!

OTR Halloween Day 14: Lights Out

The heyday of Lights Out is considered to be the era produced by Arch Oboler... primarily because that's almost all we have left! Obviously, most fans know that the series originated with Wyllis Cooper and many of us wonder what the earlier version of the program was like, considering the quality of Cooper's later program Quiet, Please.

Fortunately, there's a handful of Cooper's productions still around, mostly from post-war Lights Out revivals. I'm not sure which might have been new scripts and which were from Cooper's 1930s broadcasts, but it is at least a valuable glimpse at what was. Such a program is "The Ghost on the Newsreel Negative" which aired August 10, 1946. Two reporters go to interview a ghost and record its actions. The ghost seems quite willing to accommodate them and for a time it all seems quite light-hearted. Then they bring the negative back to the lab...

You can hear "The Ghost on the Newsreel Negative" at the Internet Archive.

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.

Lights Out Month Day 15: "The Ball"

Today's episode of Lights Out is "The Ball" from March 9, 1943. There are many episodes of Lights Out with very simple titles ("The Dream"; "The Flame"; "The Word"). This one concerns a ball - that is, a fancy dress ball being held in Paris. Two soldiers on furlough wander into the ball and find they're not exactly among the living. This is another episode where Arch Oboler's inflicts terrible things on subjects who really didn't deserve it.

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

Lights Out Month Day 14: "They Met at Dorset"

A few times now this month I've featured episodes of Lights Out in which Arch Oboler took at fascism - particularly that of the Nazis - by way of a proxy. Well, this time there are no proxies. "They Met at Dorset" (February 23, 1943) is quite simply a story of two Nazis. But rather than being the ones who inflict horror on others, this episode subjects them to a special kind of horror.

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