Customer Reviews

Old Time Radio Mysteries (Smithsonian Collection) (Smithsonian Institution)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No science fiction unless you count Escape's great adaptation of "Country of the Blind". And only one detective type which classifies as mystery because of the mysterious "Fatima". Still, a great collection. Top of the heap is the "Suspense" classic, "The Hitchhiker" with the great Orson Wells at his greatest. "Escape" is represented as mentioned above with "Country of the Blind", a H. G. Wells story, spotlighting the terrific use of sound effects and music in telling the story. Then, there's not one, but two examples of the great Arch Oboler. First, there's "Cat Wife" on "Everyman's Theater", an admittedly preposterous supernatural story, but made one of the most entertaining entries here because of the Oboler genius of use of the voices. The "Lights Out" episode, also featuring Oboler's talent, was the lesser of the two, but quite interesting because of the dramatic acting by singer Dinah Shore and tough voiced Gloria Blondell. "The Whistler" and "Inner Sanctum" were two of the best loved mystery series, and the theme music of the former, and use of the organ in the latter definitely are masterful. But the episode which I found most interesting and surprising personally was the story, "Killer, Come Back to Me" on Molle Mystery Theater, a gangster story by a fledgling author by the name of Ray Bradbury while he was still writing for the detective pulps, before he found himself in the horror and science fiction genres which made him famous. I am sure that while many Bradbury stories were dramatized on radio, this was undoubtedly the first. The classic "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" from the Weird Circle series was good though I could've wished for a less familiar literary classic. All in all, this is a great collection which shows how sound effects, music, distinctive voices, stories with twist endings, were all used to create the beloved old time radio mystery.

The realm of mystery and suspense must lie somewhere between the detective story and science fiction. The example shows chosen from "Escape", "Everyman's Theater", "Suspense", "The Mysterious Traveler", and "The Wierd Circle" would have been just as much at home in the Smithsonian science fiction collection, while the stories from "The Molle Mystery Theatre", "Murder by Experts", "Tales of Fatima", and "The Whistler" would have fitted quite nicely into the Smithsonian detectives collection.

Several of the individual episodes were classics: H.G. Wells' "The Country of the Blind" ("Escape"), Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" ("The Wierd Circle"), and Orson Welles' "The Hitchhiker" ("Suspense"). Radio drama just doesn't get any better than these episodes. "Suspense" has to have been the greatest radio drama series of all time, but from what I've seen, "Escape" wasn't far behind in quality.

"Cat Wife" ("Everyman's Theater"), "The Man the Insects Hated" ("The Mysterious Traveler"), "Killer Come Back to Me" ("The Molle Mystery Theatre"), and "The Eager Pigeon" ("The Whistler") were forgettable.

Two of my favorite old time radio detectives were included: Basil Rathbone played himself in "Tales of Fatima", but the persona he adopted was strongly influenced by the many years he spent portraying Sherlock Holmes. Jack Webb played an anti-hero in "The Whistler", but Webb's bad guy was a sort of a tarnished Joe Friday. Webb seems incapable of having played anything other than a jaded tough-guy. The three series characters he played (Jeff Regan, Pat Novak, and Joe Friday) were all had boiled, hard fisted heroes.

Today we are truly the inheritors of mass media but think back upon a time when all the american public had in their homes was a radio. Movies were the medium you had to go out to see but radio was in your homes. Comedy flourished,Westerns brought excitement but Mysteries dominated the medium as no other had before it. The twelve shows represented in this collection SUSPENSE, ESCAPE, THE WHISTLER, LIGHTS OUT, MURDER BY EXPERTS, MOLLE MYSTERY THEATRE,EVERYMAN'S THEATRE, INNER SANCTUM,THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER,THE CLOCK, THE WEIRD CIRCLE & TALES OF FATIMA. With the exception of the final title all of these shows are good examples of a self contained story which if successful would raise the hackles on the back of your neck. TALES OF FATIMA on the other hand seems to belong more in a collection of gentleman dectives. It has the estimable Basil Rathbone playing himself as an actor who sleuths between performances. 3 prime examples of the power of dramatic radio presented here are H.G. Wells' The Country of The Blind presented on ESCAPE starring Edmond O'Brien, The Eager Pigeon on THE WHISTLER starring Jack Webb and the final gem of The Hitchhiker starring Orson Welles presented on the greatest mystery anthology of them all SUSPENSE. All of these shows have been remastered to the point where you would honestly think they were recorded yesterday. So turn your light's down and prepare to enter the mind's eye.

I thought that this collection of stories were going to be "mysteries," something more along the lines of detectives, crimes, and sleuthing. What it turned out to be was a collection of good radio dramas that were more accounts of "strange happenings" and "thrillers." The audio quality was good and the stories were well done, I just think that the CD's were a bit misleading in their titles.

If you're a lover of old time radio, this collection of mysteries is fantastic. Commercials are even included which adds to the fun.

I like this collection because it isn't interrupted by modern day narration recounting the history of the shows like some other collections are. The sound quality is also far superior to other non-Smithsonian collections.

Others may be less expensive, but I don't believe that you get the quality you get here. Definitely worth the money.

From spooky to absolutely hokey, this collection of radio mysteries from the 1940s is a wonderful glimpse into entertainment before the advent of the tube. Almost as interesting as the mysteries themselves are the commercials and public service announcements (such as the one for War Bonds by Orson Welles).

An excellent collection, with performances by Richard Widmark, Orson Welles, Edmond O'Brien, Dinah Shore, Basil Rathbrone and Jack Webb.

It keeps your interest throughout the entire story. Its exciting to try to find out who did it in the mysteries. Many years ago I found a radio station that played old time radio programs. It was at that time when my love for them began. So finding these old time radio programs reminded me of better times when I was young. Thanks again.

I was expecting real mysteries, AKA detective stories. While these shows were cleaned up nicely and all, I just don't care for the sci fi/supernatural bent everything I listened to had. It also would've been nice to have had a bit more indexing on the CDs; as it is, only the beginnings of the stories are indexed.

Your records are incorrect. I did not order this collection because of the time it took to ship it.