Legacy Radio Theater - Old Time Radio Classics

First broadcast on CBS’s Suspense on June 1, 1943, “Banquo’s Chair” stars Donald Crisp as Sir William Brent, a retired Scotland Yard detective who gathers suspects at the scene of an unsolved murder. A ghostly illusion inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth becomes his way of drawing out a confession. John Loder also stars in this 1943 production, a story Suspense would revisit in later broadcasts.

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First broadcast on NBC’s X Minus One on August 4, 1955, this adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” follows a family whose automated house has a nursery that brings the children’s imaginings vividly to life. When the nursery becomes an African landscape, the parents begin to fear what their technology has made possible. X Minus One carried science fiction drama forward from NBC’s earlier series Dimension X.

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Originally broadcast on CBS’s Suspense on May 25, 1943, Lucille Fletcher’s “Sorry, Wrong Number” stars Agnes Moorehead as a bedridden woman who overhears a murder plot on a crossed telephone line. Her urgent calls for help drive one of radio’s best-known thrillers, a story Moorehead returned to in later Suspense broadcasts.

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Dark Fantasy was a supernatural drama anthology produced at WKY in Oklahoma City and carried on NBC in 1941–42. Its eerie original stories were written by Scott Bishop. “Dead Hands Reaching,” first broadcast on May 22, 1942, follows a man who hears a voice from beyond the grave offering advice that leads him toward danger.

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The Mysterious Traveler was a mystery and supernatural anthology broadcast on the Mutual network from 1943 to 1952. Created and written by Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan, each tale was framed as a train journey with the ominous Traveler, voiced by Maurice Tarplin. In “The Woman in Black,” first broadcast on March 9, 1947, a newspaper reporter follows a mysterious woman who seems to appear wherever death occurs.

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Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar followed a freelance insurance investigator whose cases unfolded through his “action-packed expense account.” The CBS detective series aired from 1949 to 1962. Bob Bailey stars in “The Blooming Blossom Matter,” first broadcast January 20, 1957. Johnny investigates a missing emerald, a missing jeweler, and a puzzling room full of junk.

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Jack “Flashgun” Casey began in George Harmon Coxe’s crime stories before coming to CBS radio in 1943. A newspaper photographer with a detective’s instincts, Casey investigated cases alongside reporter Ann Williams. The radio series continued through 1955. This episode, “The Red Raincoat,” was broadcast on August 29, 1946.

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Suspense was a CBS radio anthology of mystery and thriller dramas that ran from 1942 to 1962. This January 12, 1943 broadcast adapts Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” with Henry Hull in the lead role.

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X Minus One was NBC’s science fiction radio anthology, broadcast from 1955 to 1958 as a successor to Dimension X. In “Mars Is Heaven,” first broadcast May 8, 1955, an Earth expedition lands on Mars and finds an eerily familiar town. The episode adapts a story by Ray Bradbury.

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Gunsmoke brought a more adult Western to CBS radio, with William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon. “Billy the Kid” was the series’ first broadcast on April 26, 1952. It opens with Dillon preparing a wanted poster for Clay Richards, a fugitive accused of murder.

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The Great Gildersleeve spun off from Fibber McGee and Molly in 1941, with Harold Peary as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve. In this early episode, Leroy takes on a paper route and Gildy gets drawn into his delivery-day troubles. “Leroy’s Paper Route” originally aired on September 14, 1941.

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Frank Lovejoy stars as Randy Stone, the Chicago Star’s night-shift reporter, in Night Beat, an NBC drama following the human stories and dangers Stone finds after dark. In “The Devil’s Bible,” an unusually valuable old book leads Stone back to an unsolved murder. Originally broadcast July 24, 1950.

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Originally broadcast October 11, 1942. The Whistler was a CBS mystery anthology built around an unseen narrator and stories of crime, suspense, and ironic turns. “Malice” is a surviving episode from the program’s first year.

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Step through the creaking door for “The Corridor of Doom,” originally broadcast October 23, 1945. Inner Sanctum Mysteries brought tales of mystery, suspense, and horror to radio, pairing its ominous stories with a sardonic host and the program’s unmistakable creaking-door sound.

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Originally broadcast August 4, 1947, “The Sire de Maletroit’s Door” adapts a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Escape was CBS’s anthology of high adventure, heard from 1947 to 1954. The series carried listeners into stories of peril in faraway places and unusual circumstances.

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Howard Duff plays Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco private detective in The Adventures of Sam Spade, with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary, Effie Perrine. Spade’s case report for “The Bluebeard Caper” is dated August 8, 1948 in the recording.

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Originally broadcast February 27, 1944. The Mysterious Traveler was a Mutual network anthology of mystery and supernatural stories created by writers Robert Arthur and David Kogan. Maurice Tarplin supplied the familiar voice of the Traveler who introduced its unsettling tales.

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The quality on this one is not great, but there's a reason we're including it anyway. This is considered the beginning of Jack Benny’s radio career, with The Canada Dry Program on May 2, 1932. His later broadcasts developed the comic persona and ensemble that made The Jack Benny Program one of radio’s best-known comedy series.

Originally broadcast May 2, 1932.

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Originally broadcast May 22, 1955. “Knock” adapts a story by Fredric Brown for radio, with a script by Ernest Kinoy. X Minus One was NBC’s science-fiction anthology, launched in 1955. Its early episodes drew on scripts first heard on the network’s earlier series Dimension X.

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Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve began as a blustery neighbor on Fibber McGee and Molly before his popularity led to his own series. The Great Gildersleeve premiered on NBC on August 31, 1941, with Harold Peary returning as Gildy. In this opening episode, he arrives in Summerfield, where he will build a new home with his niece Marjorie, nephew Leroy, and housekeeper Birdie.

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