Favorite Story (1946-49) aired “The Mystery of Room 323” on June 12, 1948. The idea behind this popular show was to invite personalities of the time–-authors, musicians, movie stars, sports celebrities, and others with a high profile–-to offer their favorite stories to be dramatized on radio. We’ve run more than a dozen to date, the last one coming in July of 2021, with the one previous to that way back in 2016. Thus, for newcomers to the program or to refresh the memories of those familiar with the show, a brief note on the show is in order.
Favorite Story was hosted by the suave, debonair, early film star Ronald Colman (1891-1958), who on occasion would star in these well-produced adaptations of classic stories. Of interest to genre fans is Colman’s starring role in the 1937 film adaptation of James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon. He was signed to play the lead in MGM’s forthcoming SF film Village of the Damned (1960), but died before production began. The film was picked up by a British company and starred George Sanders in the lead role. (Coincidentally, Sanders would marry Colman’s widow, Benita Hume.) Colman was nominated for three Best Actor Oscars and would win the Oscar for 1947’s A Double Life. He was honored with not one, but two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.
“The Mystery of Room 323” was chosen by the husband and wife comedy team of George Burns (1896-1996) and Gracie Allen (1895-1964), (photo top right) as their favorite story. It stars Janet Waldo* (1919-2016, photo at left) in this well traveled story of legend, one told in varying incarnations around the world with its origins shrouded in time, and its actual veracity still in doubt to this day. This radio dramatization takes place in Paris and recounts the frightening tale of a vanishing lady and a disappearing hotel room. The basic concept was visited and reworked several times during the Golden Age of radio, the most iconic and memorable being the Suspense episode “Cabin B-13,” written by critically acclaimed mystery author John Dickson Carr. This episode proved so popular that it was aired a second time by Suspense; first on March 13, 1943 and then again on November 9, 1943. It is therefore no surprise that “The Mystery of Room 323” was chosen as a favorite story by George Burns & Gracie Allen, it being another iteration of the popular theme appearing—in one form or another—the world over, and as recently reimagined with Suspense‘s retelling a mere five years earlier. I think you’ll enjoy this tension-filled story as well, as you discover for yourself the chilling secret behind “The Mystery of Room 323.”
*Of interest to science fiction fans, Janet Waldo was the voice of Judy Jetson (1962-63) on TV’s The Jetson’s, Judy Jetson as well as Mr. Cogswell’s female computer in the 1987 animated film, The Jetson’s Meet the Flintstones, starred as Alice in 1987’s animated movie Alice Through the Looking Glass, and was the voice of the robot secretary in the 1990 animated film Jetsons: the Movie. Her film, radio, and TV credits are far too numerous to list here, but they spanned almost 75 years, ranging from her first film role in 1938 (Cocoanut Grove, starring Fred MacMurray) to her final film documentary just a few years prior to her death, I Know That Voice, in 2013.
Play Time: 26:52
{“The Mystery of Room 323” aired on a Saturday evening, and as had happened many times over the years after listening to a particularly exciting radio program, the neighborhood gang couldn’t wait to meet at the corner newsstand as soon as possible to find more stories to charge their imaginations or get their blood racing. So with permission from their parents, after church the next day they headed straight for the newsstand in their Sunday’s finest. They were in luck. fantastic Adventures (1939-53) was full of wildly exciting tales and was quickly in the grasp of a sweaty hand. fantastic Adventures was a monthly in 1948, its first year returning as a monthly after experiencing several years during and after the war with an erratic publishing schedule. Thrilling Detective (1931-53) promised some of the same emotional involvement of the previous night’s Favorite Story tale and was taken home as well. A successful detective magazine, it ran for a highly respectable 213 issues over its 22-year run. It was a bi-monthly in 1948. The venerable Thrilling Wonder Stories (1936-55) was one of the last of the early SF pulps, along with Planet Stories and Startling Stories, beloved for its colorful page-turning adventure fare where the unfettered imagination and creativity of its writers always came first, strict adherence to known science not a requirement. Many of its issues are now collector items at science fiction conventions—if you can find them. TWS was also a bi-monthly in 1948.}
[Left: fantastic Adventures, June 1948 – Center: Thrilling Detective, June 1948 – Right: TWS, June 1948]
To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.