Mystery In The Air

Show Information based on John Dunning's book "On The Air"

Two disparate crime series, linked only by title, aired in the summer slot for the vacationing Abbott and Costello Show (1945 and 1947).

No shows of the 1945 Mystery in The Air were available to audition at this writing. The 1947 edition, a showcase for Peter Lorre, survives in at least eight fine-sounding broadcasts. Titles included The Telltale Heart, The Marvelous Barastro, The Lodger, The Horla, The Black Cat, and Crime and Punishment.

Lorre delivered intense, supercharged performances of men tortured and driven by dark impulses. He stood alone at a center microphone, raving and wildly gesticulating, while supporting players worked at a second mike facing him. By the end of the half-hour, he was sweat-drenched and drained. Costar Peggy Webber recalled that once, in the heat of performance, Lorre threw his script into the air and watched helplessly as the pages fluttered to the stage. Some quick work by the cast and judicious ad-libbing by Lorre got them to the midway break, at which point the script was retrieved and put in order.

BROADCAST HISTORY: July 5-Sept. 27, 1945, NBC. 30m, Thursdays at 10. Camel Cigarettes.

CAST:

Stephen Courtleigh as Stonewall Scott, detective.

Joan Vitez as Dr. Alison.

Ed Jerome as Dr. Dietrich.

Geoffrey Bryant as Tex.

DIRECTOR: Ken MacGregor.

WRITER: Robert Newman.

July 3-Sept. 25, 1947, NBC. 30m, Thursdays at 10. Camel.

CAST:

Peter Lorre in dramatizations of literature's classics of mystery and suspense.

Supporting roles from Hollywood radio actors:

Agnes Moorehead, Peggy Webber, Russell Thorson, Barbara Eiler, John Brown, Howard Culver,

Jane Morgan, Luis Van Rooten, Herb Butterfield, Ben Wright. etc.

ANNOUNCER: Henry (Harry) Morgan; Michael Roy for Camel.

ORCHESTRA: Paul Baron.

DIRECTOR: Cal Kuhl.