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Mercury Theater
1 hour drama
Mercury Theater, also called Mercury Theater on the Air, was the creation
of Orson Welles and John Houseman. Welles and Houseman created a theater group
in New York in 1937, shortly after that, CBS wanted Welles to created a radio
program for them. Somewhat surprisingly for such a young director, Welles was
given complete creative control over the operation. Two key decisions he made
were to keep his theater group, including such actors as Joseph Cotten, Martin
Gabel, Alice Frost, Ray Collins, Paul Stewart, Virginia Welles, George Coulouris,
Agnes Moorehead and Everett Sloane, and of course, Orson Welles.This same cast
also played prominent roles in Welles' movies like Citizen Kane and the The
Magnificent Ambersons. (Considered by many critics to be two of the best movies
in American cinema.) His second decision was to create dramas specifically for
the radio, not to simply record plays they already had in production. Radio
has many shortcomings for presenting a story (no visuals), but Welles made sure
fully utilize the strengths of radio and engage the audience's imagination more
than a play or movie can.
Mercury Theater adapted works of classic literature to the radio, their first
program was Dracula. The scripts were written by Houseman, then Howard Koch
took over the scriptwriting. Other adaptations include The Man Who Was Thursday,
The Count of Monte Cristo, Around the World in 80 Days, and others.
Their most famous show, and indeed a show that has entered American Pop Culture
History is their broadcast in 1937 of “War of the Worlds.” Orson Welles
and writer Howard Koch converted the well know H.G. Wells story into a seemingly
live news broadcast; this episode of Mercury Theater terrified the nation into
believing that the Martians were attacking Earth. Previous to the “War
of the Worlds” broadcast, Mercury Theater was critically accalaimed, but
ratings poor. After the broadcast, the country was hooked, and Mercury Theater's
future was assured, it picked up sponsorship of Campbell's Soup, and changed
its name to “The Campbell Playhouse.” Welles left the show in 1940,
but briefly revived it in 1946.
Two of the most known aspects of Old Time Radio, even after 60-70 years are
the character of The Shadow (first played by Orson Welles), and the “War
of the Worlds” broadcast, created by Orson Welles. The guy knew what he
was doing, and he was given the freedom to do it in Mercury Theater (later in
his later career, the freedom was not quite there.)
All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them
on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but,
by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes
are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the
static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to
our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
Download all episodes -
Save money on the cost of the episodes, get your episodes instantly, and avoid the shipping fee!
Mercury Theater 19 Shows
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Mercury Theater 38-07-11 Dracula
Mercury Theater 38-07-18 Treasure Island
Mercury Theater 38-07-25 A Tale of Two Cities
Mercury Theater 38-08-01 The Thirty Nine Steps
Mercury Theater 38-08-15 Abraham Lincoln
Mercury Theater 38-08-22 The Affairs of Anatole
Mercury Theater 38-08-29 The Count of Monte Cristo
Mercury Theater 38-09-05 The Man who Was Thursday
Mercury Theater 38-09-11 Julius Ceasar
Mercury Theater 38-09-25 The Immortal Sherlock Holmes
Mercury Theater 38-10-09 Hell on Ice
Mercury Theater 38-10-16 Seventeen
Mercury Theater 38-10-23 Around the World in 80 Days
Mercury Theater 38-10-30 War of the Worlds
Mercury Theater 38-11-06 2 Complete Stories
Mercury Theater 38-11-13 A Passenger to Bali
Mercury Theater 38-11-20 Pickwick Papers
Mercury Theater 46-06-21 The Hitch-Hiker
Mercury Theater 46-07-12 The Search for Henry Le Ferre
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