Today, let's focus on the old time radio work of a single author, Algernon Blackwood. Blackwood was born in a part of north-west Kent, England, called Shooter's Hill in 1869. Throughout his life, he developed one heck of a C.V.: dairy farmer in Canada, hotelier, newspaper reporter in New York City, bartender, model, private secretary, businessman, and violin teacher. It was when he returned to his native England in his late thirties that he began to write the stories of the supernatural that would make his name, including his two most well-known works, "The Willows" and "The Wendigo."
Old time radio on both sides of the pond took advantage of the wealth of material generated during his career.
One of the most famous radio series, Escape, began with either William Conrad or Paul Frees (two of radio's best ever voice actors) intoning:
"Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!"
Why anyone would choose to escape into an Algernon Blackwood story is beyond me, but they did when Escape adapted "Ancient Sorceries" and "Confession." The former is a tale of the supernatural and witchcraft in a small Welsh town. The latter is the noir-esque story of a shell-shocked soldier walking the fog-filled streets of London and finding a dead body. The probelm is the soldier can't recall if he did or did not cause the woman's death.
Canada's CBC Mystery Theatre got in on the act, as well. In 1968, they broadcast an adaptation of one of Blackwood's most famous tales, "The Wendigo." In this story, a hunting party go out into the Canadian wilderness in search of moose, but instead they may have found an ancient legend in the flesh.
Finally, let's hear from the man himself. In 1948, the BBC broadcast Algernon Blackwood reading...Algernon Blackwood! The story is a quickie called "Pistol Against a Gun."
No comments:
Post a Comment
What do you think? Let me know!