Adventures by Morse (1944-45) aired “The City of the Dead” as a 10-part weekly serial beginning on January 8, 1944. While reluctant to present multi-part stories here for obvious reasons (the exception being specific self-contained episodes of the 1930s Tarzan serials), I have chosen to experiment now from time to time with select installments of “The City of the Dead.” This week we present chapter 4, “Old Clawfoot Again” which aired on January 29, 1944, and chapter 5, “The Skeleton Walks In” which was originally broadcast on February 5, 1944.
Borrowing freely from the introductory notes prefacing the first 3 chapters of “The City of the Dead” which we showcased back in October of 2016 here, we learn that Carlton E, Morse (1901-1993) was the creator, producer, director, and writer for “The City of the Dead,” as he was all of his other “Adventure” series, some of which were “The Cobra Strikes Back,” “Dead Men Prowl,” and “Land of the Living Dead.” He wrote many another early radio show dating back to the early 1930s, including one of the longest running and most popular day time soap operas (written primarily for women), One Man’s Family (1932-59). Morse was so well respected for his body of work (which ranged all over the map, including the much beloved I Love a Mystery–1939-44, about three men who ran a detective agency and traveled the globe in search of adventure) that he even worked on early television shows, including bringing One Man’s Family to TV, which aired from 1949-52 while it could still be heard on radio. Also the author of three novels, Morse was so integral to early radio and TV that he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6445 Hollywood Boulevard.
As to “The City of the Dead,” it is set 25 miles outside of San Francisco, and refers to a long filled-up and closed cemetery the caretaker of which refers to himself as “the mayor.” He is a friend to the police, while his son (a detective) is brought in to help with this case, which begins with a young couple being carjacked and dropped near the cemetery. Seeking aid from “the mayor,” the young man and woman soon find themselves in the middle of strange happenings and are “slightly” suspected of grave robbing. The plot thickens quickly as even in the first three episodes we have a phantom church bell, a scary bit of rummaging through crumbling ruins, a ghostly, long-haired clawed creature resembling a human being, and a freshly dead corpse. So while more questions are raised than answered, you will get a good idea of what this off-kilter series is all about, its spooky setting and rather nonchalant acceptance of same by the characters, and hopefully a desire to discover how it all works out by the final episode. Episodes 4 and 5 below reveal more dark secrets, with teases concerning the young couple’s holding back a mystery of their own to do with “The City of the Dead.”
Enjoy now chapters 4 and 5 of this story about a long-abandoned cemetery far from its living city, and the strange “caretaker” who looks after the people he once knew in life but now is now known as the “mayor” presiding over his cold and lifeless friends in “The City of the Dead.”
The City of the Dead, Episode 4: “Old Clawfoot Again” (1/29/44)
Play Time: 26: 37
The City of the Dead, Episode 5: “The Skeleton Walks In” (2/5/44)
Play Time : 26:42
{Due to a leaky roof needing a more serious repair than at first imagined, the corner newsstand was closed for a week until the ceiling was repaired. Episode 5 of “The City of the Dead” aired on Saturday, February 5th, in 1944, and the neighborhood gang could hardly wait until after church services the next day to visit their favorite haunt since their previous visit was a distant two weeks in their past. Still in the mood for creepy mysteries they found a few pulps that satisfied that particular itch. Crack Detective (1938-57) though it ran for almost 100 issues over a 20-year span, was probably (as one source remarked) more famous for its sporting no fewer than 8 title changes during its run. It was a bi-monthly in 1944. Mammoth Detective (1942-1947) began with lofty goals of a monthly schedule and 322 page issues, but the war dealt the magazine a terrible blow with the paper shortage, forcing the magazine to cut to 276 pages per issue and forego its monthly schedule, which became erratic at best. It wasn’t averse to having the occasional skull, mummy, or crystal ball on its covers to spice up its mysteries, and even a few names familiar to those who were fans of the science fiction pulps were seen on its covers, Nelson Bond among them. The magazine tried to make a comeback after the war but its time had come and gone, though it ended as a monthly for its final year. It was a quarterly in 1944. Thrilling Mystery (1935-1951) began as a weird menace magazine, attempting to cash in on the success of other magazines with the same focus, though it would gradually morph into a more traditional mystery venue in the latter 1940s. But in its early years it catered to an audience preferring elements of terror, the bizarre, the supernatural, and even ghouls and monsters on its covers and within its pages. Spying an SF, Fantasy, or Horror author’s name on any number of covers was not uncommon and included such as Ray Cummings, Hugh B. Cave, Fredric Brown, Henry Kuttner, Jack Williamson, Frank Belknap Long, Jr., Sam Merwin, Jr., and E. Hoffman Price among others. The magazine had settled into a comfortable bi-monthly schedule before the war, but by 1944 the paper shortage and other factors had begun to take its toll. Though it cut back to a quarterly schedule in 1944 it still skipped its Winter issue, thus producing only 3 issues in 1944.}
[Left: Crack Detective, 1/44 – Center: Mammoth Detective, 2/44 – Right: Thrilling Mystery, Spring/44]
To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.