NBC MYSTERY SERIAL

?

"NBC Mystery Serial" was a 30 minute episode serial mystery radio show (announcer unknown) that ran from 1930 until 1932. THE STORIES: The Cross-eyed Parrot According to the NBC press release, the plot was thus. "Its principal setting is an island belonging to the fanatical Dr. Herz Von Elm, who has a fondness for conducting experiments on human beings and animals. He holds his human captives for huge ransoms and if they are unable to pay the money, he uses them as subjects for his gruesome scientific tests." The story was based on a play, but Morse changed it from a melodramatic comedy to a serious horror story. Yet he added his own style of humor, including a character with a country accent that was probably the inspiration for the Doc character in I Love A Mystery. He also changed the ending of the play so that the mad doctor is killed by one of his own creations, a gorilla with the transplanted hands of a killer. The Dragon in the Sky An expedition is led to Central America to find a legendary lost city and its forgotten civilization. Along the journey, the group survives human sacrifices, the ancient craft of brain washing, and multiple meetings with a werewolf. There's plenty of action and fistfights throughout. The story would later be recycled (with minor changes) in the Adventures By Morse series as "The Land of the Living Dead". The City of the Dead Two young people wind up alone in a ten thousand grave cemetery (a "city of the dead"). Old graves are being dug up and the corpses are being swapped. Supernatural elements abound, including a ghoul named "Old Claw Foot" that attacks victims, a skeleton that walks through the front door to deliver a written message, and a phantom church bell that is heard tolling when no church bell is nearby. In 1944, this story would also be reused (with minor changes) in Adventures By Morse under the same title. Captain Post, Crime Specialist A twelfth floor suicide jumper turns out to have been murdered. The investigation leads to an old mansion riddled with secret passages. It also contains an organ that plays without an organist, and a family member who remains in his room out of fear of microscopic germs. A decaying mansion plagued by a dysfunctional family and mysterious murders is the backdrop of several I Love A Mystery stories, including "The Monster in the Mansion," "Blood on the Cat," and "Murder is the Word for It". The Return of Captain Post Police Captain Post and Sgt. Jack Long are escorting a prisoner to the Orient. They meet up with a Professor who is looking for a lost Cambodian city. When the prisoner escapes, the two cops join the expedition in hopes of tracking down the escaped fugitive. Along the journey, the two travel on the backs of elephants through tangled jungles, and encounter the Temple of Gorillas and the Cobra King. The plot was later recycled in Adventures By Morse (1945) and I Love A Mystery (in 1952) as "The Cobra King Strikes Back". The Game Called Murder Another dark house thriller occupied with decaying personalities, including a dwarf hunchback named Pettifoot. He would be renamed "Fabens" when the same plot was later used in the I Love A Mystery series, "The Case of the Transplanted Castle." The same premonition suite was played on the organ in both serials just before a murder was performed: Brahms Lullaby. Dead Men Prowl A cop and his physician friend spend the weekend at a private beach resort and encounter three murders in one evening. Inexplicably, the corpses seem to return to life, moving themselves after death, even when they are tied down or locked in cold freezers. Four youngsters are initially suspects, but soon, they become potential victims as well. The same basic plot was later reprised in Adventures By Morse. The Witch of Endor A group of prominent citizens meet at a large home to discuss the activities of a woman professing to be a witch from the San Francisco district of Endor Park. They investigate the strange happenings at the graveyard, perpetrated by an unrecognized figure with secret motives. Characters disappear without warning, and the murder count begins to grow, including the death of a detective, a nurse, and a tramp. CARLTON E. MORSE The syndicated series was produced, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse, who was involved with productions of other genre radio shows including "I Love Adventure"; "Adventures By Morse"; and "I Love A Mystery". Below is an interview with Carlton E. Morse:

LINKS

Radio Horror Hosts "NBC Mystery Serial"

Back to the USA

Send mail to:
professor@hotkey.net.au  
with questions or comments about this web site.
Page Content Copyright 2016 Paul Gerard Kennedy