Mercury Theatre on the Air, Vol. 1

The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producerJohn Houseman, who is best known for his Oscar-winning performance as Professor CharlesKingsfield in the The PaperChase. After a series ofacclaimed stage productions, Welles and his Mercury Theatre were offered theirown weekly hour-long radio program over the CBS radio network. Here Welles-along with Agnes Moorehead, RayCollins, Joseph Cotten, Alice Frost, Martin Gabel, and others-presentedpowerful adaptations of literary classics with Bernard Herrman as composer and conductor.Considered by many critics as the finest dramatichour on radio, The MercuryTheatre on the Air was without a sponsor until a single broadcast changed allthat: The War of the Worlds.Episodes include "e;Dracula,"e; starring Martin Gabel,Agnes Moorehead, George Coulouris, Ray Collins, and Karl Swenson; "e;ATale of Two Cities,"e; starring Martin Gabel, Ray Collins, Edgar Barrier, FrankReadick, and Kenny Delmar; "e;Abraham Lincoln,"e; starring Orson Welles as Lincoln,plus Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Karl Swenson, Agnes Moorehead, Carl Frank,and William Allen; "e;The Count of Monte Cristo,"e; starringOrson Welles, Ray Collins, Eustace Wyatt, George Coulouris, and Edgar Barrier;"e;TheImmortal Sherlock Holmes,"e; starring Orson Welles, Ray Collins, Edgar Barrier,Alfred Shirley, William Allen, and Arthur Anderson; "e;Around the World in EightyDays,"e; starring Orson Welles, Al Swenson, Arlene Francis, Edgar Barrier, FrankReadick, and Ray Collins.