Listen to "Lights Out" on the Air


from Chicago

Curator's note: Below are three great "Lights Out" episodes. Enjoy!

"Cat Wife" (featuring Boris Karloff)

(Aired April 6th, 1938)

The troubled marriage of John and Linda Taylor takes a turn for the worse when Linda undergoes a species transformation. It's good news for the milkman; bad news for the canary.

Mr. Karloff came to Chicago in the spring of 1938 for a series of several "Lights Out" broadcasts---a sign that folks in those days realized they could still do radio better in the Windy City than on the coasts.


"Uninhabited"

(Aired December 22nd, 1937)

Three soldiers---a Frenchman, an Australian and an African-American---meet in a railway carriage on Christmas night of 1918. Weary from the recently completed Great War, they are on leave, headed to a location that has yet to be revealed to them. They share a bottle of wine and doze off after noting a particularly bright star shining in the eastern sky. They share a common dream. But is it a dream?

A great Christmas drama by an unnamed cast (though the French officer sounds like Harold Peary, who in 1937 was often heard on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" show).


"The Coffin in Studio B"

(Aired July 13th, 1946)

A self-referential episode where a problematic "Lights Out" rehearsal leads to a fatal performance for one of the actors. The cast includes Bob Murphy (also the announcer on "The Breakfast Club" during this era), Sherman Marks, Don Gallagher, Charles Eggleston and Jack Bivans. The anouncer is not identified, though he sounds like George Stone. Albert Crews directed.



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Created by Rich Samuels (e-mail to rich@richsamuels.com)