The Good Old Days of Radio Show

We take a momentary pause from Suspense today to showcase the Mercury Summer Theater, which came several years after the famous Mercury Theater left the air. Don Ramlow joins John once again to look at one of Lucille Fletcher's most head-spinning scripts, and one of the most intense performances from dramatic radio. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group...

In 1945, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who had one of the top radio comedy programs on the air, left Hollywood to spend a few weeks in New York. While broadcasting his show there, he and New York comedian Fred Allen took turns guest appearing on each others' shows. Today we have a fun  double-bill, a Edgar Bergen Show with guest Fred Allen, and a Fred Allen show guest starring Edgar Bergen.  Visit o...

Today Writer Lucille Fletcher’s knack for writing gothic period dramas, and her former experience as a music critic, comes together for one of her best and most eerie plays. Her association with Suspense continues with a story of a whirlwind relationship with a curious young woman (played by Ida Lupino) and a grieving music-obsessed organist (Vincent Price), his two children, and the mysterious de...

Freberg returns today with another zany trip back to comedy 1957. This is the fourth program of a series by Capitol Records star Stan Freberg that only lasted 15 episodes, and includes a dramatic scene from American history, a play from the Laux Audio Theatre, and a lecture on hi-fi by Dr. Herman Horn in honor of "Deafen Your Neighbors Week." Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subs...

Today we are joined by Donald Ramlow to feature one of the most famous and powerful radio scripts ever produced, Lucille Fletcher’s Sorry Wrong Number, that would become the crown of success for Suspense, and overshadow everything else she did. The story pairs Ms. Fletcher’s incredible dialogue writing with an unbelievable performance by Agnes Moorehead, as the neurotic, unpleasant cripple alone i...

Whoever thought a trip to the hospital to visit a sick friend could be the subject of a comedy show? A couple months ago, we asked fans of Fibber McGee and Molly to pick their favorite episode of the series. Today's show is the first of two chosen by Tom Macht III, an episode from January 12, 1943, in beautiful sound quality. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Face...

Our series dedicated to writer Lucille Fletcher with expert Donald Ramlow continues today, as we present her first pairing with actress Agnes Moorehead on Suspense. This script thrusts Ms. Moorehead into a tense dramatic role as a sheltered young woman, who finds herself suddenly coupled to a frightening maniac, forced to overcome her own weakness to survive. Visit our website: https://goodolddays...

Buckle in, it's our 100th episode, and we are doing a super, colossal, egregiously overproduced Groucho Marx 2-hour extravaganza. We will be featuring You Bet Your Life and The Big Show, some of the biggest and best variety entertainment that money could buy in early '50s radio. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest...

On the third episode in our series, John and special guest Donald Ramlow delve into one of Lucille Fletcher's early ghost stories from The Columbia Workshop. This is a more traditional haunted house tale about a childless couple, an old Brownstone-style house, and its small, unhappy occupant. Listen to "The Hitchhiker" episode: https://goodolddaysofradio.podbean.com/e/episode-7-top-10-horror-the-h...

This is one of the most unique plots ever conceived for film, a fantasy about a crochety old man (Lionel Barrymore) whose number is up, a 10 year old boy (Ted Donaldson) whose custody is in dispute, and Mr. Brink (Vincent Price), the "Agent of Death", trapped in a magical tree.  Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest...

Today an early ghost story by our featured writer Lucille Fletcher, as we are once again joined by Fletcher Guru Don Ramlow on a chronological journey through her fascinating radio career. This gothic story features a fine performance by Mercury Theatre actor Martin Gabel, as a man haunted by an antique sculpture. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group f...

Take one of the top-rated films in movie history, condense it into a 20-minute script, and you have "Casablanca" on radio. This one has a lot going for it, including Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid reprising their famous film roles. But whether this version lives up to the silver screen version, you must be the judge. Here's looking at you, Kid... Visit our website: https://goodo...

Today we are beginning a new 10 week series exploring the life and career of the celebrated ghost story writer, Lucille Fletcher. John is joined by expert and personal friend of Lucille Fletcher, Donald Ramlow, to discuss the writer, and listen to one of her earliest stories, which is not a ghost story, but an amusing comedy about a dancing caterpillar. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradi...

That popular detective of the 1940s, Sam Spade, is back to crack another baffling, rapid fire, humor-laced caper. Today, Sam is hired to bring the strange Mr. Lazarus back from the dead. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/881779245938297 If you don't do Facebook, we’re als...

The radio series "Suspense" was an A-List show during most of the Golden Age of Radio, employing the top writers and performers that money could buy. And although many of the programs were boilerplate noir thrillers, a few broke the mold, and this is one of those. Orson Welles plays a surgeon able to keep the evil brain of an accident victim alive, and it develops superhuman abilities. Correction:...

Phil Harris is back today with his pal Franky, and in traditional fashion, this show puts them in the most awkward situations possible. This time they get stuck babysitting Mr. Scott's baby. This show has a hilarious sequence with Phil and Remley making baby formula. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest podcast: ht...

In today's podcast, we go back to the 1950s, when TV was new, Rock and Roll was king, and the world was suddenly living in the frightening shadow of the nuclear age. We bring you a brand of monster found in countless sci-fi movies of the time, and on radio as well, an unintentional consequence of the new atom bomb experiments. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Fac...

It's Jack Benny time! Today we are featuring another 1946 episode that is an exceptional example of this show. This one guest stars a Hollywood bad guy icon we heard from just a week ago, Edward G. Robinson. Also John talks about one of the the show's most famous bloopers of all time. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the...

If you have arachnophobia, you may want to steer clear of today's offering. This story is pure horror from the imaginatively gruesome pen of writer Arch Oboler, originally broadcast in 1943 on his famous and wildly popular series Lights Out! And, yes, listen to this one in the dark... after you are sure there are no large spiders hiding nearby, of course. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofra...

Happy Independence Day! Today we celebrate July 4th with a spectacular all-star production that was created to mark the 150th anniversary of the American Bill of Rights. Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and a huge cast of notables join to explore the meaning and importance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/...

Today's show is from Wyllis Cooper, who started as a staff writer at NBC and went to Hollywood for a brief period of time to write for the movies. Perhaps not coincidentally, this story is about a screenwriter who invents monsters for low-budget horror films, and one monster that shows up on New Year's Eve.  Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for new...

Today it's off-the-wall comedy from Henry Morgan. Not the star of MASH. This Henry Morgan was a New York comedian from the '30s and '40s, who was a true original. In this program, 'the invention of the button hole' amongst other items will either have you scratching your head or rolling on the floor. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discu...

Today you are about to go on a trip… down… into the dark, underground, where monsters might lurk below our feet. This is an episode of Lights Out!, and this story largely takes place in the dark, so we too recommend you listen to this one with your lights out. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest podcast: https://w...

By request, You Bet Your Life is back today, with a fast-paced joke barrage by Groucho Marx with real-life contestants from October of 1949. Also John offers a glimpse behind-the-scenes at how the show was done. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/881779245938297 If you don...

Our top 10 monsters continue today as we accompany a group of adventurers seeking to catch a glimpse of the Kang Admi, the elusive icy creature of the Himalayas, famously known as the Abominable Snowman. And they do, but get a little more than they bargained for. Visit our website: https://goodolddaysofradio.com/ Subscribe to our Facebook Group for news, discussions, and the latest podcast: https:...