Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Whistler "The Shrunken Head" (06-13-42)


The Shrunken Head (Aired June 13, 1942)


The Whistler was one of radio's most popular mystery dramas, with a 13-year run from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. If it now seems to have been influenced explicitly by The Shadow, The Whistler was no less popular or credible with its listeners, the writing was first class for its genre, and it added a slightly macabre element of humor that sometimes went missing in The Shadow's longer-lived crime stories. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series' fame, over 200 episodes are lost today. In 1946, a local Chicago version of The Whistler with local actors aired Sundays on WBBM, sponsored by Meister Brau beer.


THIS EPISODE:

Whistler. June 13, 1942. CBS Pacific network. "The Shrunken Head". Sustaining. An heiress comes to live in the house of her crippled old uncle...and his collection of shrunken heads! Wilbur Hatch (composer, conductor), Joseph Kearns (writer), J. Donald Wilson (director). 29:46.

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