Mercury Theater On The Air Log

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Radio Broadcast Log Of:

The Mercury Theater On The Air

Starring Orson Welles, this was the first acting group, The Mercury Players, to be heard on the radio on a weekly basis. After an experimental 9 week run on a sustaining basis, CBS ordered an additional 13 weeks. Broadcasts for this series were produced in “first person singular.” Each broadcast is 60 minutes in length. This series resumed with the sponsorship of Campbell Soaps and changed its title to The Campbell Playhouse beginning o 12/09/38.

Broadcast History:
Network: CBS
First Series: 07/11/38 to 09/05/38
Second Series: 09/11/38 to 12/04/38
Director:
Orson Welles
Producer:
John Houseman
Production Supervisor:
Davidson Taylor
Music:
Bernard Herrmann
Writers:
John Houseman, Howard Koch
Announcer:
Dan Seymour
Engineer:
John Dietz
Sound Effects:
James Rogan, Ray Kremer, Ora Nichols
Sponsor:
Sustained
Theme:
Tonight We Love (Theme from Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor)
by Russian composer Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky (05/07/1840 – 11/06/1893)
Cast:
Agnes Moorehead, Alice Frost, Everett Sloane, Joesph Cotton, Martin Gabel,
Ray Collins, Kenny Delmar, Edgar Barrier, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris,
Hiram Sherman, Frank Readick, Karl Swenson, Erskine Sanford
Also heard:
Arthur Anderson, George Backus, Virginia Welles, Richard Wilson, Alfred Shirley,
Arlene Francis, Eustace Wyatt, Thelmas Schnay, Howard Smith, Patty Chapman,
Marilyn Erskine, Morgan Farley, Ruth Ford, Betty Garde, Elliott Reid, Mary Wickes,
Stefan Schnabel, Bill Herz


To order programs from this series on CD click here.


Series One

Monday - 9:00 p.m. – First Person Singular Series

07/11/38 # 1 Dracula by Bram Stoker w/Orson Welles, Elizabeth Farrell
07/18/38 # 2 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson w/Orson Welles, Arthur Anderson
07/25/38 # 3 A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens w/Orson Welles, Martin Gabel
08/01/38 # 4 39 Steps by John Buchan w/Orson Welles
08/08/38 # 5 I'm A Fool by Sherwood Anderson\
Open Window by H.H. (Saki) Murne
My Little Boy by Carl Ewald
w/Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier, Ray Collins
(Jane Eyre announced as next program)
08/15/38 # 6 Abraham Lincoln by John Drinkwater w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins
08/22/38 # 7 Affairs Of Antole by Charlotte Bronte w/Orson Welles, Alice Frost
08/29/38 # 8 Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins
09/05/38 # 9 The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton w/Orson Welles, , Paul Stewart
(Vincent Van Gough announced as next program)

Second Series
Sunday - 8:00 p.m.

09/11/38 #10 Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Narration by H.V. Kaltenborn from Plutarch w/Orson Welles
09/18/38 #11 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte w/Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead
09/25/38 #12 Sherlock Holmes Adapted from William Gillette's stage version
w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins, Richard Wilson
10/02/38 #13 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
10/09/38 #14 Hell On Ice by Commander Edward Ellsberg w/William Allen
10/16/38 #15 Seventeen by Booth Tarkington w/Orson Welles, Betty Garde, Elliott Reid
10/23/38 #16 Around The World In Eighty Days by Jules Verne w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins
10/30/38 #17 War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells w/Orson Welles, Frank Readick
11/06/38 #18 Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Gift Of The Magi by O. Henry
Life With Father by Day
w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins
(Bishop Murder Case announced as next program)
11/13/38 #19 A Passenger To Bali by Ellis St. Joseph
11/20/38 #20 Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens w/Orson Welles, Ray Collins
11/27/38 #21 Clarence by Booth Tarkington
12/04/38 #22 The Bridge Of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder


To continue see the broadcast log of The Campbell Playhouse click here.


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Copyright © 1984 by Terry G. G. Salomonson. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States Of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.