The Good Old Days of Radio Show

Arch Oboler's career was sparked in the early days in horror radio when he was brought on to replace Wyllis Cooper on the series "Lights Out!" Oboler discovered that very late night radio could be used to experiment with unusual techniques in writing and sound effects. Today we hear another episode from the later revival series of Lights Out! with a dark story of a newspaper tyrant, and the ghost...

We are taking out an entire month to look briefly at the prolific body of work of Arch Oboler. The 1930s saw Oboler in a position of prominence in radio with his own series "Arch Oboler's Plays." Today we hear the most dramatic of these, with an riveting production of Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun," starring James Cagney as the blind and deaf soldier with no arms, and no legs.  Visit our web...

Those regular listeners of the show will know the name Arch Oboler. We have featured many Arch Oboler shows, particularly his famous horror series "Lights Out!" But Arch Oboler was much more than just a horror writer. He was also a highly regarded radio innovator, right next to Norman Corwin and Orson Welles. For the next few weeks we are going to be exploring his work from drama to adventure to c...

It is our final visit with radio researcher Keith Scott, with his tremendous tribute to iconic cartoon voices of the golden age who also appeared on radio. For our final episode, we have a true command performance of cartoon voices, as the characters from Warner Brothers and Walt Disney studios collide in this unique variety show from the War Years. Keith Scott's website: https://www.keithscott.co...

At last we reach the final three chapters of Carlton E. Morse's corking good thriller, "The Thing That Cries In The Night." Plenty of clues are given to the identity of the murderer, more crazy running around in the middle of the night, and everything comes to a fantastic climax in this action-packed radio serial from 1949. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebo...

We are almost done with our series devoted to the famous voices that worked on radio and cartoons during the golden age. This week, Satn Freberg is back, this time with a radio essay on The CBS Radio Workshop, about satire. Helping Stan make his point about the importance of satire, we hear many great voices also heard in cartoons, such as Daws Butler, June Foray, Bill Thompson, and even Parely Ba...

Today Jack is on the trail of the murderer, a radio actress, and the mysterious "They" that haunt the dark hallways of the Martin mansion. Listeners of the 1940s tried to match wits to uncover the identity of the murderer and slasher, along with adventurers Jack, Doc, and Reggie in this rare surviving serial from the elusive "I Love A Mystery." Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Su...

We are continuing our series "cartoon voices on radio" with our special guest, radio researcher, and voiceover artist Keith Scott. Today we are bringing you a radio classic that still is funny! Phil Harris, who himself became a famous cartoon voice, and a cast of other recognizable voices from classic cartoons, are here to poke fun at something most of us can relate to: renewing your driver's lice...

Today the mystery deepens, as a gathering of the Martin family leads to answers and more questions, and another murder takes place in a dark room in the eerie Hollywood mansion. Carlton E. Morse's unique 1940s pulp mystery, featuring his three thrill-seeking heroes, continues with parts nine and ten of "The Thing That Cries In The Night." Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscrib...

Today we continue on our journey with guest Keith Scott, as he presents some of the great work of famous cartoon voices who appeared regularly on its sister medium, radio. Today we are listening to the popular show, Fibber McGee and Molly, and this is the birth of a famous "voice" that went on to be Droopy Dog and "Smee" in Walt Disney's Peter Pan.  Keith Scott's website: https://www.keithscott.co...

Jack, Doc, and Reggie are embroiled in a dark mystery, involving a creepy house, a wealthy family run by the overbearing "Grandma" Martin, and her three disturbed grandchildren. Add in a shadowy group of murderers, slashers, and a crying baby, and you have chapters seven and eight of a truly great vintage murder mystery.  Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook...

This week, we are bringing you a radio show that is a tale not for the faint of heart. No one better to tell you the story of the creeping cat people than the iconic voice of Disney's haunted mansion, as well as many villains of classic cartoons, Paul Frees. Once again we are joined by our special guest Keith Scott, who looks at the history of Escape, and many of the voices behind the radio show....

Carlton E. Morse's "I Love A Mystery" 15-minute radio serial about a creepy Hollywood mansion inhabited by the unseen "They" continues in this episode, and John talks about this popular series, the hundreds of episodes that were broadcast, and why it has mysteriously vanished off the face of the earth. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, dis...

We are back to cartoon voices today with our special guest Keith Scott. Today he once again brings us to the Walt Disney branch of animation. Walt himself is on hand as the voice of Mickey Mouse in this episode of a short running early Disney radio show, as well as Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, taking a snap-shot of the newly released feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."  Keith Scott's we...

Jack Packard finds himself in an interview with the snobbish "Randolf" Martin today, and he and his companions meet Faith, Hope, and Charity in the strange house of mysterious slashings, people falling downstairs, and murders. Yes, we are continuing with chapters three and four of Carlton E. Morse's creepy thriller from the late 1940s. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe t...

Happy July 4th! Today we are going back in time, with a tale of the American Revolution, with a heavy dose of folklore and humor, by the celebrated poet Stephen Vincent Benet. Harry Bartell is "Lige" Butterwick, a farmer with a bad tooth, who is swept up in the adventure of Paul Revere and his little magic box. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for...

Today we are beginning a 7-week venture into the pulp radio writing of Carlton E. Morse. Considered one of the most unique writers of imaginative adventure radio serials of the golden age, "The Thing That Cries In the Night" is the first story in chapters (originally broadcast in 15 episodes) that we have presented on this podcast. Part mystery, part thriller, we join Jack, "Doc", and Reggie for t...

The CBS Radio Workshop was a series that was truly "experimental" radio. Existing purely for the indulgence of creative radio people at CBS, the Workshop took risks delving into the odd, with stories that often did not comply with tried-and-true narrative structures. Keith Scott brings us such a story on the fringe, starring John Dehner as Edgar Alan Poe, and Daws Butler as Toby Dammit. The record...

This is the final week of our series of 10 great radio tales to listen to in the dark. Following this theme, this is the perfect quiet story of a little ghostly voice that visits in the dark when a man plays Ravel's "Pavane For A Dead Princess." From the creative pen of Writer/Director Wyllis Cooper, this grim horror classic transcends the genre. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/...

In 1937, Walt Disney, best known at the time for his theatrical shorts, stunned the world with his artistic cinematic masterpiece "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Today we are going right back to that time, when young Walt Disney appeared on "Lux" with many of the original voice cast to present the story to a radio audience. Radio expert Keith Scott is here to talk about this presentation and th...

The radio series "Escape" was best known for original pulp adventures, sometimes classic short stories, rarely horror. And yet today we are bringing you one of the most lucid dark fantasies ever done on radio, written by one of the truly great radio writers, who knew how to use the medium, Anthony Ellis. This is a story that can be understood by anyone who has ever experienced a recurring nightmar...

Today we pay tribute to "The Man of a Thousand Voices," Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc started in radio and became best known as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and many others from the Leon Schlesinger cartoons. Here to talk about Mel's own mid-'40s radio sitcom is 2023's man of a thousand voices, Keith Scott. Keith Scott's website: https://www.keithscott.com.au/ Cartoon Voices of the Golde...

Our series devoted to tales best heard alone, in the dark. This is an unsettling tale from the typewriter of Wyllis Cooper from his series "Quiet Please." If you are a regular listener of the podcast, you will know that Cooper's series was quiet, sometimes humorous, sometimes thoughtful, often disturbing, always with understated dialogue.  Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscri...

We have briefly mentioned the wonderful crossover of radio voices and classic cartoons. But today we are beginning an in-depth series laser-focused on the iconic voices of cartoons from the golden age, with expert researcher Keith Scott. Keith has brought along a series of radio shows that particularly highlight cartoon voices. We're beginning today with a show that is no stranger to the podcast,...

We are back with more spooky sound tales. Today we are featuring a rare tale by the English weaver of spook tales, Algernon Blackwood, and the story of a shell-shocked Canadian soldier (played by veteran radio actor William Conrad), who gets trapped in a London fog, and experiences strange happenings and visions that border between reality and fantasy. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio...