60 minute play/drama/adaptation show
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.)
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Purchase as a download, purchase as CD(s), or listen for free
Purchase as CD $4.50
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.
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Episode List
Mercury Theater 38-07-18 Treasure Island.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-07-25 A Tale of Two Cities.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-08-01 The Thirty Nine Steps.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-08-15 Abraham Lincoln.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-08-22 The Affairs of Anatole.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-08-29 The Count of Monte Cristo.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-09-05 The Man who Was Thursday.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-09-11 Julius Ceasar.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-09-25 The Immortal Sherlock Holmes.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-10-09 Hell on Ice.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-10-16 Seventeen.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-10-23 Around the World in 80 Days.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-10-30 War of the Worlds.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-11-06 2 Complete Stories.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-11-13 A Passenger to Bali.mp3
Mercury Theater 38-11-20 Pickwick Papers.mp3
Mercury Theater 46-06-21 The Hitch-Hiker.mp3
Mercury Theater 46-07-12 The Search for Henry Le Ferre.mp3
Mercury Theater Remembered.mp3
