Arch Oboler understood something fundamental about radio: what you cannot see may be more powerful than what you can.
From the psychological darkness of Lights Out to wartime dramas, literary adaptations, political parables, and performances by Mae West, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, Ingrid Bergman, Ronald Colman, and Raymond Massey, Oboler continually tested the limits of the medium.
Radio historian John Dunning wrote that few people were ambivalent about him. People either liked or disliked him with equal fervor. This Chesterton Radio Deep Dive explores why—through The Sea, The Garden of Eden, Johnny Got His Gun, The Women Stayed at Home, This Precious Freedom, Night Flight, and more.
Turn out the lights. The pictures are better that way.
The Garden of Eden - Mae West - Don Ameche - Arch Oboler
The Sea - Lights Out - Arch Oboler
The Women Stayed At Home - Arch Oboler - Norma Shearer - Everyman’s Theater
🎙️ Night Flight — An Arch Oboler Drama of Darkness, Duty, and the Edge of Control
Of Human Bondage - Bette Davis - Ronald Colman - W. Somerset Maugham - Oboler
This Precious Freedom - Arch Oboler - Everyman’s Theater - Raymond Massey
🎙️ Arch Oboler’s Plays – The History of a Mug - A Mother’s Love and a Gangster’s Fall
Berkeley Square - Ronald Colman - Greer Garson - Everything For The Boys - Arch Oboler
Johnny Got His Gun - James Cagney - Arch Oboler’s Plays
Cat Wife - Every Man’s Theater - Arch Oboler
Arch Oboler & Friends - Mystery Adventure All Night Long!
Rocket From Manhattan - Arch Oboler - Lights Out
Money, Money, Money - Lights Out - Arch Oboler
The Cliff - Arch Oboler’s Plays
The Women Stayed At Home - Everyman’s Theater - Arch Oboler
Revolt of the Worms | Lights Out | Arch Oboler
Strange Morning - Ingrid Bergman - Arch Oboler’s Plays - A Story of Victory
Lights Out! – They Met at Dorset (1943) | Wartime Thriller by Arch Oboler
The Day Sinatra Got Fat - Arch Oboler’s Plays
The Truth - Edmund Gwenn - Arch Oboler’s Plays
Adolph and Miss Runyon - Bette Davis - Hans Conreid - Arch Oboler - Plays for Americans
The House I Live In - Arch Oboler Plays - Mercedes McCambridge - Raymond Massey
The Laughter - Four for the Fourth - Fred MacMurray - Arch Oboler - Mercedes McCambridge
A Letter at Midnight - Jimmy Stewart - Arch Oboler - Plays for Americans
Mirage - Lights Out - Arch Oboler
Ways of Men Past, Present and Future - Arch Oboler’s Plays
The Chinese Gong - Arch Oboler - First Nighter
Engulfed Cathedral - Arch Oboler’s Plays
