Friday's Favorite OTR

The Mercury Theater on the Air: "Around the World in Eighty Days" 10/23/38

This very entertaining adaptation of Jules Verne's novel has Orson Welles assaying the role of Phileas Fogg. Inspector Fix, the cop who pursues Fogg around the world because he's incorrectly convinced Fogg is a bank-robber, is played by Ray Collins.

Collins was getting in practice at arresting suspects who turn out to be innocent. He'd later play Lt. Tragg on TV's Perry Mason, where he would arrest an innocent man or woman pretty much every week.

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Friday's Favorite OTR

The Mercury Theater on the Air: “Passenger to Bali” 11/13/38

A very effective adaptation of the story by Elias St. Joseph. A man buys passage on a tramp steamer sailing from Shanghai to Bali. But when the ship arrives at Bali, the captain discovers the passenger’s nefarious past makes him a man with no country, refused entry at every port. The passenger becomes a Flying Dutchman and the ship becomes a phantom vessel, unable to stay in any port as long as they are stuck with their unwanted guest.

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Friday's Favorite OTR

The Mercury Theatre on the Air: "Abraham Lincoln 8/15/38



Based on the play by John Drinkwater, this broadcast was an episodic examination of Lincoln's presidency. It's quite wonderful--generating a surprisingly high level of emotion as Lincoln deals with hard moral decisions and an argumentative Cabinet. With much of the dialogue lifted directly from Lincoln's speeches, it's a powerful bit of historical drama.

Click HERE to listen or download.