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Radio Mystery Theater: “MYSTERY THEATER” WEEKEND BROADCASTS TO BE DEVOTED TO CLASSIC TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE

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By Old Time Radio Shows



March 5, 1979

“MYSTERY THEATER” WEEKEND BROADCASTS TO BE DEVOTED TO CLASSIC TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE

Broadcasts Recommended by NEA;
Set To Start March 31

The Saturday and Sunday broadcasts of the CBS MYSTERY THEATER, starting Saturday, March 31, will be devoted to adaptations of the classic tales of mystery and suspense that have been presented from time to time during MYSTERY THEATER’s first five years, it was announced by Richard M. Brescia, Vice President and General Manager of the CBS Radio Network. Mr. Brescia made the announcement to station executives attending the CBS Radio Affiliates Association board meeting last week in Palm Beach, Fla.

“This lineup of classics,” Mr. Brescia said, “will certainly be good news to the loyal -- and every growing -- radio drama audiences across the country. These productions by Hi Brown are adaptation of celebrated short stories, novels and plays penned by literary greats, including Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Louis Stevenson and Emily and Charlotte Bronte, ‘Dracula’ and ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ will also be included in this exceptional weekend family entertainment.” Among other weekend classics are adaptations of the works of Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, Alexander Pushkin, Emile Zola and Honore Balzac.

The National Education Association has informed CBS Radio that it will recommend these weekend broadcasts to its memberships of 1.8 million teachers. Two years ago, Hi Brown, whose previous work was the first radio series to be recommended by NEA, produced a radio adaptation of “Ivanhoe” before the organization’s Board of Directors at its annual conference. At the time, John Ryor, NEA president said, “We have studies that show radio drama can simulate imagination....I think radio drama has stimulated students’ interest in literature in ways not yet adequately evaluated and explored....”

MYSTERY THEATER’s first weekend of classic will open with “Diary of a Madman,” a short story by Guy de Maupassant, Saturday. March 31, to be followed on Sunday, April 1, by Mark Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger.” Larry Haines stars in the de Maupassant story, with Tony Roberts taking the lead role int Twain yarn. (See separate release).

In scheduling these Classics through the end of 1979, Mr. Brescia explained stations will have an opportunity to promote them to their listeners, who then will be able to set aside time to tune-in to their favorite stories. The following is a schedule through August 26:

April 7                    Othello                                         William Shakespeare
April 8                    The Canterville Ghost                 Oscar Wilde

April 14                  Cherchez La Femme                  O. Henry
April 15                  Is He Living or Is He Dead?          Mark Twain

April 21                  Hamlet                                          William Shakespeare
April 22                  Prisoner of Zenda                         Anthony Hope

April 28                  Macbeth                                        William Shakespeare
April 29                  The Bascomb Pool Mystery         Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

May 5                     The Lodger                                    Marie Belloc-Lowndes
May 6                      Julius Caesar                                William Shakespeare

May 12                    The Cask of Amantillado               Edgar Allan Poe
May 12                     The Picture of Dorian Gray           Oscar Wilde

May 19     The Horla                                                            Guy de Maupassant
May 20     The Phantom of the Opera                                 Gaston Leroux

May 26      Dracula                                                               Bram Stoker
May 27      The Fall of the House of Usher                           Edgar Allan Poe

June 2       The House of Seven Gables                               Nathaniel Hawthorne
June 3        The Golem                                                         Folk story

June 9        Murders in the Rue Morgue                                Edgar Allan Poe
June 10      Jane Eyre                                                            Charlotte Bronte

June 16       Suicide Club                                                       Robert Louis Stevenson
June 17       The Oblong Box                                                  Edgar Allan Poe

June 23       The Diamond Necklace                                      Guy de Maupassant
June 24        The Hound of Baskerville                                   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

June 30        The Masque of the Red Death                            Edgar Allan Poe
July 1            The Tell-Tale Heart                                             Edgar Allan Poe

July 7             Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde                                      Robert Louis Stevenson
July 8            The Pit and the Pendulum                                  Edgar Allan Poe

July 14          Frankenstein                                                      Mary W. Shelly
July 15          Wuthering Heights                                             Emily Bronte

July 21          The Black Cat                                                    Edgar Allan Poe
July 22          The 36th Man                                                      Legend

July 28           The Hand                                                           Guy de Manupassant
July 29            Berenice                                                           Edgar Allan Poe

August 4       Antony and Cleopatra                                         William Shakespeare
August 5         Tobin’s Palm                                                     O. Henry

August 11       Tom Sawyer, Detective                                     Mark Twain
August 12        The Light That Failed                                        Rudyard Kipling

August 18       The Adventure of the Red-Headed League       Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
August 19        Markheim                                                           Robert Louis Stevenson

August 25        Don’t Die Without Me                                     O. Henry
August 26        The Sire deMaledroit’s Door                           Robert Louise Stevenson

Contact:    Cheryl Daly

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