Although lights out would be closely associated with oboler later on, he would always credit wyllis cooper as the series creator and spoke highly of him as the unsung pioneer of radio dramatic techniques and the first person he knew who understood that radio drama is an art form. Oboler was the child of impoverished latvian jews in chicago. Arthur, david kogan, and alonzo deen cole dabble in dark realms. The show remained at its postmidnight timeslot of 12. Chicagoborn arch oboler and the radio industry literally grew up together. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series lights out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period of his career. Produced, written, and directed by arch oboler himself, arch obolers plays was a radio anthology that aired on nbc radio for one year, from march 25, 1939 to march 23 of the following year. A controversial figure in the ealy days of radio drama, oboler s radio plays sometimes polarized audiences.
Hence, he is included if only as a reminder of the vanished mystique of radio in the motion picture industry. In this arch oboler story, a desperate woman pleads with the listener to accompany her to the bank. The story of a marine grunt in the first battle of khe sanh april 1967 duration. Escape 491115 085 three skeleton key starring elliott reid, william conrad, and harry. Arch oboler got into trouble again when he wrote the infamous mae west and don ameche adam and eve sketch on the chase and sanborn hour. Produced, written, and directed by arch oboler himself, arch oboler s plays was a radio anthology that aired on nbc radio for one year, from march 25, 1939 to march 23 of the following year. They will tell you strange secrets of the supernatural, of science experiments gone wrong. The definitive arch obolers original plays radio log with.
Jan 30, 2009 arch oboler came to hollywood out of the radio tube, but he never showed the visual flair of orson welles. On this episode of the horror its another story from lights out. All stories featured in the show were original works of arch oboler, except maybe for two, which were. Lights out is an american oldtime radio program devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural created by wyllis cooper and then eventually taken over by arch oboler, versions of lights out aired on different networks, at various times, from january 3, 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television. He was a relentless crusader against the rise of hitler, and many americans objected to his shows. Cooper was a magnificent spook master, pioneering the use of streamof.
Lights out tv series 19461952 season 3, episode 26. Arch oblers radio stuff is readily available on the net. Id love to hear the original radio shows when theyre found. Download the oldtime radio hour halloween arch oboler the. Cooper was succeeded by arch oboler, one of radios greatest dramatic talents. Arch oboler used a wet rubber glove to make the sound of peoples bodies turning inside out due to a mysterious and deadly fog in the light s out drop dead recording of the dark. Radio history of lights out and host arch olber and wyllis. Radio, more than any other medium of popular entertainment, is an ideal vehicle for dark tales of dark deeds. Arch oboler 19091987 was a innovative writer, director, and producer, whose works always command attention. Arch oboler s lights out everybody by arch obolers, april 1987, metacom edition, audio cassette in english. Strange legacy original air date19 february 1951 directed by fred coe writing credits ira. These episodes generally have better sound quality than the older versions and are sometimes mislabeled as being from the original series.
There was plenty of gore and strangeness on wyllis coopers lights out, and it got even stranger when arch oboler. She has an improbable tale about a man who believes the power of concentration and will can accomplish supernatural. Five years later, it was heard again, this time on mutual, from april 5 to october 11, 1945. A few year later, oboler revived bathysphere for a new lights out series on cbs. After the 19421943 lights out, oboler continued to work in radio everything for the boys and revivals of arch oboler s plays and pursued a second career in filmmaking, first in the hollywood mainstream, and then as an independent producer, writing and directing a number of offbeat, lowbudget films, including five, about survivors of a. At first he was unenthusiastic about being stuck with a horror radio show that played at midnight on tuesdays not my idea of a writing shangrila but soon realized that the lack of sponsorship and full artistic control gave him a chance to experiment with. Arch oboler took over as writer director in 1936 amd evemtually hosted the show as well.
Lights out was about as good as it got when it came to radio horror but a disclaimer is in order here horror then is much different than horror now. A variety of nbc staff writers and freelancers filled in until lights out was canceled in 1939. Praised as one of broadcastings top talents, he is. In 1936 oboler was offered the reins of wylis coopers lights out radio show. The villainous vocal skill of boris karloff, mercedes mccambridge, willard waterman, shirley mitchell, and more bring to life twenty perilous plots. Oboler left in the summer of 1938 to pursue other projects, writing and directing several critically acclaimed dramatic anthology series arch oboler s plays, everymans theatre and plays for americans. Lights out stars boris karloff, scripts by cooper 71647 death robbery. Lights out everybody old time radio arch oboler on. Of the three, oboler could almost be counted as a forgotten or overlooked genius. Download lights out old time radio show and enjoy it on your iphone, ipad. Arch oboler the dark short recording arch obolers plays mirage september 6, 1945 mutual lights out.
Arch obolers plays thriller old time radio downloads. Arch obolers lights out everybody april 1987 edition. This week, our visit to the listener library brings us an episode of lights out, come to the bank, recommended to us by our mysterious listener kristaps. Conyers old time radio presents the scariest episodes of otr. Oboler sold his first radio scripts in the 20s, while he was still in high school. This time, we indulge in revolt of the worms, an episode from the arch oboler era of the series. Lights out is an american oldtime radio program devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural. It we consider radio drama as an art form, three great names stand out as masters. At this point in his career, oboler was more fascinated with the technical end of radio than with nuances of plot and character. Radios premier showcase for heartstopping horror is presented in this collection of twenty great episodes of lights out. Arch oboler producer 19491952 ernest walling producer episode cast frank gallop. In 1936, oboler took over a weekly radio horror anthology, lights out, from producer willis cooper. The lights were finally turned off on the series after a total of 350 original and repeat episodes on august 6, 1947.
Sakhalin arch obolers oldtime radio of 1943 youtube. Lights out was an american horror radio program, which ran on various networks. Arch oboler s drop dead lp 1962 introduction to horror 2. In the face of a wartorn world, brilliant scientist charles prentice retreats to develop the perfect rose. Lights out 19460803 the revenge of india download 3. Radios premier showcase for heartstopping horror is presented in this collection of 20 great episodes of lights out.
Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Arch oboler is often compared with other radio genius of his time, like orson welles and norman corwin. Arch oboler december 7, 1909 march 19, 1987 was an american playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. Lights out was originally a 15 minute program created by wyllis cooper, but it was eventually expanded to 30 minutes buxton, 140. Purely your choice as to where you would enjoy ruminating over the episodes coming into your home. Produced, written, and directed by broadcasting legend arch oboler and starring boris karloff, mercedes mccambridge, dinah shore, gloria blondell, and more these tales are devilishly devised to keep you up all night. Lights out synopsis, otr log, images, listen to and. Ones media arch oboler collection otr3cdarchobolercollection old time radio 3 cdrom 239 mp3 total playtime. The new production of bathysphere aired on june 29, 1943.
Arch oboler was eccentric and ambitious when he took over and picked up where cooper left off, following the latters general example but investing the scripts. Unfortunately, oboler often gets painted with the dry brush. Day 8 arch obolers christmas 1918 working on sending out one blog entry each day in december to showcase great old time radio for the christmas season. His name still reverberates from the lights out radio series i heard in my childhood. Unfortunately, this version does not survive, though the script is in the arch oboler collection at the library of congress and is virtually identical to the 1939 version. Created by wyllis cooper and then eventually taken over by arch oboler, versions of lights out aired on different networks. Once again, its later than the we think and we are listening to lights out. Quiet please 480809 060 the thing on the fourble board 23.
A great recreation of chicken heart, based on the original script, was done by the gotham radio players a number of years ago. The infamous arch oboler wrote and directed many of the shows, including burial. Lights out everybody old time radio cdrom april 14, 2015 by arch oboler author. Oct 19, 2008 i have also taken the time to manually type out the text from the back cover of the arch oboler lights out lp which was almost illegible due to the poor quality of the album cover image, convert the official wikipedia page to a. Sounds in the dark come strange, mysterious, and terrifying in 21 episodes of such classic series as lights out, inner sanctum, suspense, and many more.