Showing results by narrator "Bill Mills" in All Categories

Remember the classic Twilight Zone episode in which a man only wants peace and quiet so he can read - and then a global event seems to finally provide him with the opportunity? Here is the original short story in its first-ever audio presentation.

The Disembodied Man was published only once, in the legendary SF pulp zine Imagination in the early 1950s. Off-beat and humorous, like much of Maddock's work, it is at once a unique tale of an unconventional romance and an intricate puzzler with two O'Henry-like twists, resulting in a delightfully human and touching short story.

A rich English gentleman thinks he has found the perfect caretaker for an isolated cottage near the sea: a veteran sailor with a taste for solitude. But when he returns to the cottage months later, the gentleman can find no trace of the caretaker. Then he is savagely attacked by a seagull, normally the most pacifistic of creatures.

In "The Detective's Wife", Tudor Jenks, perhaps having had a bit too much of all-knowing and near omniscient sleuths, seems to be having his own joke on Conan Doyle and his followers. This audiobook takes you back into the parlor of one such brilliant and undefeatable detective, who brags to his wife that the logical and mathematical male mind is superior to the disorganized and emotional mind of the female. His wife disagrees.

Malcolm Jameson's short story "Blind Alley" is probably his best remembered and most reprinted work due in large part to the fact that it was the basis for a very memorable episode of Rod Serling's popular television series "The Twilight Zone" titled "Of Late I Think Of Cliffordville".

Spend Thanksgiving with "your neighbors, the Andersons" and Father Knows Best!

One of the most popular family programs from the Golden Age of radio, Father Knows Best debuted as a radio sitcom in 1949, starring Robert Young as Jim Anderson, the show's"hero" and the father from which it derived it's name. Jim sold insurance, lived in a lovely home with his wife, Margaret, and together they struggled to meet the challenges of raising three "modern" children in the new modern age...of the 1950s!

The story that inspired the famous Twilight Zone episode! "People Are Alike All Over" (which starred Roddy McDowall) became one of the most famous episodes of that classic television series. That memorable script was adapted from veteran science fiction author Paul W. Fairman's story for Fantastic Adventures magazine, where it was published under it's original title "Brothers Beyond the Void".

Here is the fascinating story of the Edison Phonograph Company and its "Hill and Dale" vertical recording process, illustrated by musical examples from vintage recordings of legendary jazz band, The California Ramblers (which included famed trumpeter Red Nichols and other jazz greats)! This is the behind-the-scenes story of the invention, development and commercial promotion of the phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison, the "Genius of Menlo Park."

Saddle up and come along on a Cowboy Christmas with Marshal Matt Dillon and "King of the Cowboys" Roy Rogers! During the years now known to old-time radio fans as the Golden Age of Radio, listeners could expect to hear special guests and holiday sketchs on their favorite programs. Even the Western shows and cowboy stars of the day could be counted on to show the holiday spirit, especially at Christmas time.

Here is The Pepsodent Radio Show, starring Bob Hope, for Christmas 1953! Filled with comedy, music, and warm Christmas cheer, it's a nostalgic look back at one of America's great entertainers in the process of establishing what became a true American tradition for many many years: The Bob Hope Christmas Specials.

You will think you are listening to classic radio drama, or the soundtrack for a lost 1940s horror film. This new audio dramatization is read and performed by a full cast with a lush, eerie and evocative music score and realistic sound effects. With the addition of an informative introduction written for this production by Jean Marie Stine, the total package is a real treat for aficionados of terror and the supernatural.

What happened to Harley Warren in that cemetery in Big Cypress Swamp? Only Randolph Carter knew. And Carter was mad! Or was he? An ancient book from India in undecipherable characters sends two men on a quest into nameless terror beneath the surface of the Earth. Carter remains above, listening in via a handset, while Warren reels a phone line behind him as he descends beneath an ancient crypt.

Candy Matson, Yukon 2-8209, which ran from 1949-1952, is considered the best of radio's female private eyes. Bright, sparkling and witty, Candy Matson (whose home was "on Telegraph Hill overlooking Monterey Bay" in San Fransisco) features the sharpest dialogue this side of the William Powell-Myrna Loy "Thin Man" movies.

In this widely reprinted romantic mystery short story by Jean Marie Stine, Dr. Devlin Blake thinks the life of a doctor on a cruise ship will be exciting and romantic. But at first he finds his duties aboard the Pacific Princess dull and monotonous. Then he is called on to solve an "impossible" locked-room murder!

Just as in Volume 1 of this series, this Audio Archive presentation of The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective Vol 2, contains two complete, 30 minute, Sam Spade radio shows, plus special commentary. Each episode is introduced by old radio aficionado and collector Bill Mills, who shares interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes and informative facts about the program and its stars.

An Audio Archive special feature presentation of one of the greatest and most beloved Christmas stories: Miracle on 34th Street. This is the classic movie condensed and performed live as a one-hour radio play by The Lux Radio Theater in 1948. In the words of Lux Theater producer William Keely, "It's wrapped in a gay covering of laughter, tied with a bright ribbon of good humor, and decorated with the three sparkling stars of the 20th Century Fox picture."

Holiday hilarity and history with the Great Gildersleeve - radio's most lovable windbag! The inimitable Harold Peary, with his melodious baritone voice and trademark warbling laugh, achieved stardom portraying Gildersleeve on the first ever spin-off series in broadcast history!

This Audio Archive presentation of The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective, contains two complete, 30 minute,Sam Spade radio shows. Each episode is introduced by old radio aficionado and collector Bill Mills, who shares interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes and informative facts about the program and its stars.

Not a mere reading, you will hear wraiths howl, the dead walk, and the massive old house of Usher fall in this unique new audio dramatization. This presentation is based on a classic radio script written by veteran scripter Les Crutchfield (who some sources consider a pseudonym for the then blacklisted screen writer Dalton Trumbo) and originally presented on the popular radio series Escape on the night of October 22, 1947.

Here is the classic 60-minute Lux Radio Theater adaptation of the 1930s movie hit, recreated with the original film stars and director! This Audio Archive feature presentation delivers William Powell and Myrna Loy, who reprise thei roles as Nick and Nora Charles, the sophisticated lovers at the heart of Dashiell Hammett's immortal romantic-mystery masterpiece, The Thin Man.