n
September 1940 Variety had reported that the
authors are considerably vexed by the history of what happened to "The Adventures of Ellery Queen" radio series after it went commercial and came under the domination of an advertising agency. They pointed to the case as confirmation of the fact, that advertising men can deflate a good literary property and then pass the resultant black eye to the creative people. It was supposedly dropped by Gulf rated as something of a flop, with it chances of finding a new sponsor not too bright. The authors pointed out bitterly that two basic changes were made immediately and others were imposed later. First, the show was cut to 30 minutes, although the authors say, by every rule of professional judgment, the development of the literary formula required the full hour. Second, the deft direction of George Zachary, who fostered the show at CBS and put it across, was tossed away, the writers think, solely because he was not a Young & Rubicam man. He was retained on the payroll because he was part of the package price, but largely to twiddle his thumbs and eat his heart. Several agencies got some backwash from all authors big enough or daring enough to assert themselves against being smothered by an agency conference system or kicked around by newcomers who had nothing to do with the creation of the program. |
Dannay had a near fatal accident in 1940 but despite all this they restarted to produce a radio script a week. |
In 1941 the cast did an episode in The Campbell Playhouse (the follow up to The Mercury Theater On The Air, CBS) The name changed to reflect the sponsor, as was often done in radio, and the series took off with a large radio audience. In 1941 these 30 minutes broadcasts were produced by George Zachary. Episode 78 broadcast on 04/25/41 was called "Do Not Disturb", billed as a "comedy-mystery" it featured the Ellery Queen radio cast and starred Edmund Lowe, William Powell and Diana Lewis (Mrs. Powell). None of these episodes seem to have survived. |
On June 3, 1941 Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee appeared in a 10 minutes show called America in Transition (WABC 3:45 pm). The authors of the Ellery Queen mystery tales, told why mystery stories are so popular in America. |
Fred not only compiled his anthology 101 Years' Entertainment but also launched EQMM (Fall 1941). |
Appearing as Mr. Queen (Manfred B. Lee) en Mr. Ellery (Frederic Dannay) they were guests on the Speaking of Books broadcast over WGY, Schenectady, N.Y., November 28, 1941. In "Ellery Queen meets the critics" they discussed the new anthology 101 Years' Entertainment together with Howard Haycraft, Basil Davenport and Granville Hicks. The content of this broadcast survived in an issue of The Wilson Library Bulletin. |
Above Left to Right: "Ellery Queen meets the critics". Howard Haycraft, Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee), Basil Davenport, and Granville Hicks. |
The two cousins appeared on Behind the Mike (Jan 25, 1942 3:30 pm) a program which provided listeners not only an insight into NBC behind the scenes but into many of the technologies and practices behind most broadcast networks of the era. This episode came under the title "Creating Ellery Queen". In 1942, it coincided with the start of the new season when after an absence of 15 months, a new sponsor for the regular series was found... |
After the CBS reign the cousins returned to the prose and wrote Calamity Town (1942). After which they started to diversify. The reason being (one of their best works till date) Calamity Town was rejected for prepublication in a national magazine. So they decided it wise not to put all the eggs in one basket. By that time Ellery went to the movies but Dannay described them quiet rightful as "...each one more dreadful than the other...". They had much more control over their product in radio and frankly more luck...their agent was instructed to look for a network and sponsor. |
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Season 2 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles NBC Bromo-Seltzer Thursdays 9:30 - 10:00 pm 1942 (68-93) East Coast version aired Saturdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm Producer/Director: George Zachary - Knowles Entriken Announcer: Ernest Chappell (right) Scripts: Frederic Dannay, Manfred B. Lee Music: Charles Paul, organist Stars: Carleton Young (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Marion Shockley (Nikki Porter). |
Above left: Hugh Marlowe and Marian Shockley Above right: Inspector Queen turns the tables. Ellery Queen, Columbia's master of mysteries, and Nikki listen to Inspector Queen. Usually Ellery's father finds it difficult to get in a word when the youngsters are in action. This time, they are not only listening but positively concentrating. anny and Kaye Brinker were married on July 4, 1942 coinciding with the last broadcast of the series. During the next three months of he and Dannay worked on There was an Old Woman. Information Please (NBC Red) ran from 1938 to 1946, in this series of quiz programs listeners could submit questions to a panel of experts. Money was paid to those whose questions were used, and more prizes were awarded to listeners whose questions stumped the panel. On September 18. 1942 the panelists were series regulars John Kieran and Franklin Pierce Adams and guests Christopher Morley and Orson Welles. After announcer Milton Cross explained the rules, the panelists answered questions on topics that included history, popular and classic literature, silent movies, and geography. Some of the questions dealt with Welles's radio and theater career. Mystery writer "Ellery Queen" submitted a question about fictional detectives and stumped the panel for which he was awarded a war bond and a set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. After a regular episode on March 28. 1942 Ellery turns sports expert with Bill Stern (WEAF, 10 p.m.) On June 6. 1943 The Texaco Star Theatre with Fred Allen (aka The Fred Allen show) had "Ellery Queen" as guest. Ellery Queen, with the assistance of "One Long Pan" solves "The Adventure of the Jockey Who Rode With Death." This was Carleton Young and Fred Allen was armchair detective (along with a couple of his comedy characters). Allen had to pay a royalty for permission to have Carleton Young do his Ellery Queen characterization. No actor credit was given during the 30 minutes show but it's also assumed Marion Shockley played Nikki. (See Season 3 listing) Meanwhile on December 16, 1942 it was announced (Variety) that Manfred and Fred may do a special series for the Government on the subject of security of war information. They conferred with George Zachary, radio production head of the Office of War information who had left the Ellery Queen show. They would keep control over the plots and only some slogans were added by the Office. Tom, Dick and Harry or the Adventure Of The Murdered Ship (EQMM, 7/43) is by no means the best example of a Queen story but it does show the format of the radio plays and, like no other radio drama the influence of the Office. In 1944 under the overt sponsorship of the OWI a (15 minutes) "special" was made from the West Coast broadcast of "The Bullet-Proof Man" (11-18-43) and renamed "The Adventure of the Wounded Lieutenant", it was also published in EQMM that summer. (EQMM, 7/44)
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Season 3 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles NBC Bromo-Seltzer Thursdays 9:30 - 10:00 pm 1942 - 1943 (94-145) East Coast version aired Saturdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm Producer/Director: Knowles Entriken, Bruce Kamman Announcer: Ernest Chappell Stand-by Announcer: Ben Grauer Scripts: Frederic Dannay, Manfred B. Lee Music: Charles Paul, organist Stars: Carleton Young (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Marion Shockley , Helen Lewis for nine weeks starting Sep 1943 (Nikki Porter). |
Above left: Sydney Smith. Above right: Marian Shockley, actress heard as Nikki Porter on NBC Ellery Queen. NBC photo is marked 3/18/42 included text: "SCREAM TEST: screaming technique is part of the necessary equipment for Marian Shockley". |
Season 4 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles NBC Bromo-Seltzer Thursdays 9:30 - 10:00 pm 1943 - 1944 (146-197) East Coast version aired Saturdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm Producer/Director: Bruce Kamman / Bill Tuttle / Bob Steel Announcer: Ernest Chappell Scripts: Frederic Dannay, Manfred B. Lee Music: Charles Paul, organist Stars: Sydney Smith (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Helen Lewis 5 episodes / Marion Shockley (restarting 11/11/43) (Nikki Porter) |
he middle of the War was the peak of their success, reportedly they earned $50,000 per year most of which through the radio adventures which were heard by more than fifteen million listeners every week! In 1943 some reruns were scheduled and the cousins used their time to write The Murderer is a Fox . Enter Sydney Smith as Ellery Queen which kept the role for almost four years. As a gimmick NBC kept his identity a secret. As did Hugh Marlowe before him Smith convinced himself he actually was Ellery Queen. August 18, 1944 Sydney Smith appeared as Ellery Queen on Bill Stern's Sports Newsreel. (The previous day Bill had been an armchair detective). In his 15 minutes shows sports reporter Bill Stern tells many stories of and about sports and sports figures -- many are rumors, or even gossip. Each week he had a different guest who told a story themselves. |
Season 5 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles NBC Bromo-Seltzer Thursdays 9:30 - 10:00 pm 1944 (198-210) East Coast version aired Saturdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm Producer/Director: Bob Steel Announcer: Ernest Chappell Scripts: Frederic Dannay, Manfred B. Lee Music: Charles Paul, organist Stars: Sydney Smith (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Marion Shockley (Nikki Porter). |
Quick as a Flash was a 30-minute radio quiz program which featured drama segments with guest actors from radio detective shows. Created by director Richard Lewis and emcee Ken Roberts, the program debuted over the Mutual Network on Sunday, July 16, 1944. The final round was a mystery featuring a guest detective such as " Nick Carter," " The Falcon," "Ellery Queen" etc. The first contestant to spot the clue that solved the mystery won the round. Occasionally no one could unravel it, so the guest detective gave the solution himself. Among the dramatic cast was Santos Ortega (1944-47). On Sunday January 21. 1944, it had (Sydney Smith) Ellery Queen as guest. Dunninger, The Master Mentalist (ABC, later NBC) started in 1943 with mentalist Joseph Dunninger. The episode from July 26, 1944 had Marion Shockley as "Nikki Porter" from Ellery Queen on the show. (The episode is still available). Dunninger starts with divining the name Malini and then divines places and addresses. The feature effect is a murder divination. Other guests were Raymond Edward Johnson of Inner Sanctum, Muriel Stafford graphologist, and Dick Brown singing star. |
The Adventures of Ellery
Queen
list of titles CBS Anacin Wednesdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm 1945 (211-239) Producer/Director: Bob Steel Announcer: Don Hancock Scripts: Frederic Dannay (Anthony Boucher), Manfred B. Lee Stars: Sydney Smith (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Barbara Terrell / Gertrude Warner beginning 7-25-45 (Nikki Porter) |
(Chesterfield Cigarettes Presents) Music that Satisfies was a 15-minute radio program that was broadcast two times a week. The Music that Satisfies Ellery Queen was on the radio the same day as a regular radio play (Mar 21. 1945).
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Season 6 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles CBS Anacin Wednesdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm 1945 - 1946 (240-291) Producer/Director: Bob Steel Announcer: Don Hancock Scripts: Frederic Dannay (Anthony Boucher), Manfred B. Lee Stars: Sydney Smith (Ellery), Santos Ortega (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia (Velie), Gertrude Warner /Charlotte Keane beginning mid-July 1946 (Nikki Porter) |
In 1946 both Mr. & Mrs. North and Ellery Queen won an Edgar Award for best radio drama. Richard Coogan (once an Armchair detective) took over the Ellery Queen part late in 1946. Anthony Boucher described Coogan’s performance in a letter to Manfred B. Lee, (25 October 1946) as "not quite so smug" as his predecessor’s. (Nevins ) Above left: Gertrude Warner, (a hidden) "Ellery Queen" and Santos Ortega in the studio (11-1945) Above right: Warren Hull, Parks Johnson (When the Vox Poppers were armchair detectives) and Charlotte Keane before the CBS mike, (August 21 1946). |
Season
7 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles CBS Anacin Wednesdays 7:30 - 8:00 pm 1946 - 1947 (292-318) Producer/Director: Bob Steel Announcer: Don Hancock Scripts: Anthony Boucher, Manfred B. Lee, Tom Everitt Stars: Sydney Smith / Richard Coogan / Lawrence Dobkin (Ellery), Santos Ortega / Bill Smith (Inspector Queen), Ted de Corsia / Ed Latimer (Velie), Charlotte Keane (Nikki Porter) |
he start of each episode of the 1947-1948: " I dedicate this program to the fight against crime- not only crimes of violence and crimes of dishonesty, but also crime of intolerance, discrimination and bad citizenship-crimes against America." and ending with "This is Ellery Queen saying goodnight till next week, and listening all Americans every night - and every day- in the fight against bad citizenship, bigotry, and discrimination-the crimes which are weakening America!" In 1947 when mandated segregation was proudly practiced a bold statement. Lawrence Dobkin played Ellery. We also mention the appearance of Kaye Brinker (Mrs. Lee!) to be heard in "The Message in Red". |
Season 8 The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles NBC Anacin Sundays 6:30 - 7:00 pm 1947 (319-328) Producer/Director: Tom Victor Announcer: Don Hancock Scripts: Anthony Boucher, Manfred B. Lee, Tom Everitt Music: Chet Kingsbury, Organist Stars: Lawrence Dobkin (Ellery), Bill Smith (Inspector Queen), Ed Latimer / George Mathews (Velie), Charlotte Keane (Nikki Porter) Show moves to Hollywood
The Adventures of Ellery Queen
list of titles |
After the last episode of Season 8 Ellery Queen left the airwaves (05-27-48). For completeness, we would also like to mention that some sources also specified William P. Rousseau as director for Ellery Queen. However, we could not confirm this to date.
Both April 12 and 13, 1951 Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay appeared in The Tex and Jinx Show , WNBC, New York City. Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg interview the authors who describe how they seldom go to the office and talk about one time they neglected to collect the mail for three years. They also describe their first book, published in 1929.
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Australian episodes The Adventures of Ellery Queen list of titles Grace Gibson Radio productions Fridays 7:30 - 8:00 pm 1954-1955 (1-52) Director: John Saul ... Stars: Charles Tingwell (EQ), Wendy Playfair (Nikki), Harp McGuire (RQ/../EQ), Nigel Lovell (Velie) |
The following "Queen radio products" we only mention to be complete but in
essence the radio story ends here, fortunately by that time television had
began to show interest (1951). |
During the sixties the cousins rented their
hero for use in this syndicated package of 100 (silly) one-minute-mysteries.
None of them
with any involvement of Lee or Dannay. Most of these episodes seem to have survived. |
Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries list of titles (Syndicated) Bill Owen played the role of Ellery. No less than 520 one minute long mysteries were produced by Creative Marketing & Communications, Cincinnati, Ohio and issued on a reel-to-reel format. Set 1: November 1965 (episode 1-130) Set 2: April 1966 (episode 131-259) Set 3: September 1966 (episode 260-390) Set 4: February 1967 (episode 391-520) |
10-26-78/12-05-78 Whodunnit? 59' Produced by John Weber. In the National Public Radio program entitled Options Reporter Wendy Blair explores how fact and fantasy are turned into mystery. She talks to publishers, booksellers, editors, readers, and writers of detective thrillers. Among those interviewed are Ross MacDonald, H.R.F. Keating and half of the Ellery Queen team, Frederic Dannay all of whom are discussing the art of the detective thriller (Cassette preserved at Library of Congress, and also on cassette at the Chicago Public Library.) |
After the decline of OTR it seemed this kind of
entertainment was lost for mass audiences. This still seems true till this
day although some kind of revival is seen in re-enactment of old OTR
scripts. This is the case for Ellery Queen in both
Japan
and Italy. We had to wait until 2013 to find a noteworthy American addition.
Off Broad Street Players (OBSP)
paid tribute with the
production of two 1940's era radio shows
starring the popular amateur detective. The
radio shows included prominent guests in the
audience who participated as “armchair
detectives” and were asked to offer their opinion
on whodunit and why. That feature was part of
the 1940s radio shows as well and will be
included in the OBSP productions. Real-life
mystery writer Michael Nethercott was in the
audience as an armchair detective on May 8th. Other 1940s era
celebrity guests were portrayed by OBSP
members Trudee and Chris Rice, Mike Cirre, and
other community notables.
OBSP has chosen to feature their work because of
local connections to the writers and their
families. Above right: "...Cast members, directed by Sharon Wood, are Brian Bevacqua,Mary Carter, Mike Grace,Kara Lee, Meredith Lewko, Scott Magnuson, Stan Marro, Eric Peirce, Julie Richardson, Arthur Vidro and Dori Yacono." |
Dutch radioplays list of titles "We heard all about the American radio plays... but is there anything in the Dutch language?" I hear my fellow countrymen think... Although I found evidence (see below) short wave radio brought at least some of the early hour-long radio episodes to the European listener (W2XE from New York), I think it's safe to say it's doubtful all episodes were broadcasted as such and even more doubtful the program was popular in Europe.
In Belgium Bert Janssens made a radio play based on "The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats" (1934). The translation by Herman Niels was broadcast via NIR on Thursday April 3. 1947 as "Zeven Zwarte Katten". On March 7.1954 a single broadcast on AVRO brought a radio play based on the short-story "The Lamp of God". This broadcast was the main event of a full evening program Radioscoop and was titled "Het Huis in de Wildernis" (aka "The House in the Wildenness"). It was repeated on Sep 26. 1960.
Finally
Léon Povel and
Willem Tollenaar directed a KRO
radio play The Glass Village
(Het Glazen
Dorp) broadcast in four
episodes in January of 1961.
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References
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Introduction |
Floor Plan | Q.B.I. |
List of Suspects | Whodunit?
| Q.E.D. | Kill as
directed | New |
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