Inner Sanctum Mystery
Lipton Tea |
Inner Sanctum Mystery, also known as Inner Sanctum, is a popular
Simon & Schuster series
In 1930, the first title was published in Simon & Schuster's "Inner Sanctum" mystery series: I Am Jonathan Scrivener by
Horror hosts
On January 7, 1941, the Inner Sanctum radio program premiered,
When Johnson left the series in May 1945 to serve in the Army, he was replaced by Paul McGrath, who did not keep the "Raymond" name and was known only as "Your Host" or "Mr. Host".[8] (Berry Kroeger had substituted earlier for a total of four episodes.) McGrath was a Broadway actor who turned to radio for a regular income. Beginning in 1945, Lipton Tea sponsored the series, pairing first Raymond and then McGrath with cheery commercial spokeswoman Mary Bennett (aka the "Tea Lady"), whose blithesome pitches for Lipton Tea contrasted sharply with the macabre themes of the stories. She primly chided the host for his trademark dark humor and creepy manner.[citation needed]
The creaking door
The program's familiar and famed audio trademark was the eerie creaking door which opened and closed the broadcasts. Himan Brown got the idea from a door in the basement that "squeaked like Hell." The door sound was actually made by a rusty desk chair. The program did originally intend to use a door, but on its first use, the door did not creak. Undaunted, Brown grabbed a nearby chair, sat in it and turned, causing a hair-raising squeak. The chair was used from then on as the sound prop. On at least one memorable occasion, a staffer innocently repaired and oiled the chair, thus forcing the sound man to mimic the squeak orally.[9]
Guest stars
The stories were effective little chillers, mixing horror and humor in equal doses. Memorable episodes included "Terror by Night" (September 18, 1945) and an adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" (August 3, 1941). The latter starred Boris Karloff, who was heard regularly in the first season, starring in more than 15 episodes and returning sporadically thereafter.[citation needed]
Other established film stars who appeared on the program in the early years included Bela Lugosi, Mary Astor, Helen Hayes, Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas, Claude Rains, Frank Sinatra, and Orson Welles. Most of the lead and supporting players were stalwarts of New York radio. These included Santos Ortega, Larry Haines, Ted Osborne, Luis van Rooten, Stefan Schnabel, Ralph Bell, Mercedes McCambridge, Berry Kroeger, Arnold Moss, Leon Janney, Myron McCormick, and Mason Adams. Players like Richard Widmark, Everett Sloane, Burgess Meredith, Agnes Moorehead, Ken Lynch, and Anne Seymour also found fame or notability in film or television.[7]
Of more than 500 programs broadcast, only about 200 remain in circulation.[citation needed]
Example program opening
Sound effect: A door with squeaky hinges is slowly opened. Organ begins to play.
Raymond: Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum. This is Raymond, your host. I'm glad you came tonight, because we have a very special guest of horror with us. I'd like you to meet the late Johnny Gravestone, the most celebrated member of the Inner Sanctum Ghost Society. He's the best haunter of them all. Johnny's the tall figure in the white sheet wearing the blue ribbon. He's haunted everything from a palace to a telephone booth. And uh, if you're very nice to him, he'll be glad to consider giving your house the once-over. Who knows? He might even haunt you! Ha-ha-ha-ha!
(Commercial)
Raymond: Well, we're about to begin our story. Oh, I forgot to warn you about the Trembliens. They're those pesky, invisible cousins of the gremlins. They uh, sidle up to [sic] you, give quick little shoves, and give the false impression that you're trembling. If you're being troubled by a Tremblien, just grab him by his invisible little horns and stick him into the nearest pin cushion.[7]
Films
In June 1943, Universal purchased the screen rights to the series from
Lon Chaney Jr. was hopeful for the series, craving diversity in his roles after Universal had placed him in various monster roles in their horror films.[11] Pivar planned to produce two Inner Sanctum mystery films a year with each film featuring Chaney and Gale Sondergaard in the lead roles.[13] Sondergaard was dropped from the lead role shortly before the filming of Calling Dr. Death.[13]
The films in the series are Calling Dr. Death (1943), Weird Woman (1944), Dead Man's Eyes (1944), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Strange Confession (1945) and Pillow of Death (1945).[14][15]
From retrospective reviews, Kim Newman described the film series as "straddling whodunnit and horror" and that "the films vary in quality but mostly deliver as strange entertainment."[16] Newman found that Weird Woman was the standout film in the Inner Sanctum series, being the sole entry in the series to have supernatural elements.[16] The authors of the book Universal Horrors declared the series "feeble melodramas with little to recommend them beyond their camp qualities and the morose spectacle of seeing a badly miscast Chaney struggle his way through acting assignments that were painfully beyond his depth."[11] They concluded that the series was "generally regarded by buffs and film historians as a missed cinematic opportunity."[17]
Television
The 1954 syndicated television series featured Paul McGrath as the off-camera host/narrator. The TV shows were produced at the Himan Brown Production Center (now Chelsea Studios) in Manhattan.[18]
"Pleasant dreeeeaaams, hmmmmm?"
In the 1970s, with his CBS Radio Mystery Theater series, Himan Brown recycled both the creaking door opening and, to a lesser extent, the manner of Raymond. The hosts were E. G. Marshall and during the final season, Tammy Grimes. When the series was rebroadcast during the late 1990s, Brown himself rerecorded the host segments and mimicked Raymond's "Pleasant dreeeeaaams, hmmmmm?" for the familiar closing.[2]
Satires
Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder satirized the series in Mad's fifth issue (June–July 1953) with "Outer Sanctum!" In the opening panels, host Ramon greets the reader: "Come in, I've been waiting for you! I've been waiting for you to fix my squeaking door!... What?... You say you're not the carpenter?... You have come to hear a story?... Very well!"
In the
The opening of an Inner Sanctum episode was used to open one side of The Whole Burbank Catalog, a 1972
The popular British 60s radio comedy
The 1946
See also
References
- Notes
- ISBN 978-0-7864-4864-7
- ^ a b c Brown, Himan (2002). "On accepting his American Broadcast Pioneer Award". himanbrown.com. Himan and Melina Brown. Archived from the original on January 18, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ a b Grams, Martin (October 4, 2013). "Debunking the Myths of Inner Sanctum Mystery...or Mysteries". Martin Grams Blog. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ISBN 9780786483884. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Mirek (July 14, 2008). "The Inner Sanctum Mysteries". Shock Theater. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Harmon, Jim (1967). "And Here Is Your Host". The Great Radio Heroes. Doubleday & Company. pp. 73–77. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c Kuersteiner, Kurt (2008). "Radio history of Raymond Edward Johnson and Inner Sactum Mysteries". RadioHorrorHosts.com. Monsterwax Sci-fi & Horror Monster Cards. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ "Inner Sanctum Mysteries – Vintage Horror". VintageHorror.com. Vintage Horror & Old Time Radio. 2007. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ "Calling Dr. Death (1943)". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c Weaver, Brunas & Brunas 2007, p. 379.
- ^ Weaver, Brunas & Brunas 2007, p. 382.
- ^ a b c Weaver, Brunas & Brunas 2007, p. 380.
- ^ "Weird Woman". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1476612300.
- ^ a b Newman 2021.
- ^ Weaver, Brunas & Brunas 2007, p. 384.
- OCLC 55845541. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- Sources
- Sight & Sound. Vol. 31, no. 2. p. 86.
- Weaver, Tom; Brunas, Michael; Brunas, John (2007) [1990]. Universal Horrors (2 ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2974-5.
- Further reading
- Ohmart, Ben (2002). It's That Time Again. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 0-9714570-2-6
- Grams, Martin (2002). Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door. Churchville: OTR Publishing ISBN 0-9703310-3-7
- Weaver, Tom; Brunas, Michael; Brunas, John (2007) [1990]. Universal Horrors (2 ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2974-5.
External links
- Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: Inner Sanctum Mysteries
- "Existing Episodes of Inner Sanctum Mysteries" by Martin Grams Jr.
- OTR Network Library: Inner Sanctum Mysteries (106 episodes)
- Inner Sanctum Mysteries – OTR Researchers Certified Set at the Internet Archive
- Inner Sanctum Mysteries – Single Episodes at the [Internet Archive]