The Shadow - Old time radio!

[hobodreamer]

Sounds like it was a 2 part episode, do you have the 2nd part ?

[lvmy57]

74 years ago today!

[Imachowderhead]

My old man used to listen to this when he was a kid. I have his cassette tapes. he had his own show on AM 1140 here in richmond, Va called turn back the clock and return engagement until the day he died. RIP and thanks for all the great times.

[jonnygouda1]

I just wanna agree w/shadow5 above. Theatre of the mind! No Harry Potter and the Deathly Piss Holes or even the first 1977 Star Wars movie. Not even the movie version of 2001: A Space Odessy. Nothing paints a more realistic picture and reality than one's own mind!  This is up there with the heydey of comic books or with reading a good novel. Do they make stories for blind people that aren't just the audio version of a book? If I went blind, that might keep me sane.

[captainamerica1967us]

the Shadow film with Alec Baldwin was a disaster. A remake would be good.

[nightmathzombieethan]

I listen to The Shadow (and other old time radio shows) every night. I get it through Internet Radio on my PSP, but I think it's available online through "Shoutcast". It's a station called Old Time Radio and it's on 24/7, it's commercial free (Except for the odd cool old school ad), and it's free of charge. I've never tried to get it on my computer but I'm sure it's available. I love it!

[Alistairville]

The voice on the opening is not Orson Welles. It is Frank Readick.

[AkumaUchitoru]

Man, I wish they still did this kind of stuff. Radio was the best when it first came out, but now it just plain sucks. :(

[LadoAmigo]

You are fabolous!!!!

[Jeffzkrazie]

Is there any OTR fans under the age of 30? If so send me a Private Message, I would really like to know that I'm not one of the only ones out there who likes OTR.

[Mallen151]

@Jeffzkrazie yes

[LoriVanPelt]

@Jeffzkrazie well i am 42 and listen to the Shadow every night to go to sleep to. i have done this for the last 15 years

i loooooove the shadow

it is my favorite, although i also enjoy charlie chan too

[Tomie694U]

back in the 1970s

the had a local radio statio that on Sunday nights had

radio shows like this

I wish they still did

is there any cds I could buy?

if so Where?

[heathercubedx3]

@Tomie694U I used to listen to The Shadow, Escape and other radio plays back in the early 80's in Southwestern Ontario and BC when I was just in my 20's and wish too that I could find them to add to my entertainment library. I know some young people that might enjoy to this form of entertainment when we're all together playing board games. That's what was so great about it. You could be doing other things and still not lose the plot.

[Mallen151]

@Tomie694U This might be a little late. While I don't know where you can buy cds of this, almost the whole Shadow collection of Radio dramas are available on itunes. If you choose to buy one, you could then burn it onto a blank cd through itunes. Other radio dramas can be downloaded for free on any number of OTR podcasts, also found on itunes.

[HardyGirl66]

I have this episode, as well as many others on cassette. I have a cathedral radio replica w/ a tape deck in the side. I love sitting in my living room every Sunday afternoon as I listen to The Shadow, Lights Out, Suspense, The Green Hornet, Superman and many others! long live Old Time Radio!

[Baskerville22]

I recall listening to Yes What, Dick Grayson Rides the Range & Rick O'Shea in the late 1950s. Also The search for the Golden Boomerang, Biggles & Dad & Dave.

[devilfan1965]

this was when radio was great. you had to use your imagination....

[revpgesq]

thank you for posting this... playing it now for my just about to turn 90 year old grandfather...priceless :-)

[Gregorybot]

if only technology was like it was then and the government would be a bit better

[Majesticon]

absolutely bone-chilling.. 

[cobaltjones]

Radio was moe imaginative than television, that much is true. But let's not get carried away with the fallacy of the "good old days". Ask blacks about those good old days.

[KD4GNC]

I have been an avid fan of The Shadow for several decades in fact I have purchased the entire collection on CD in mp3 format from a person that sells these things at several places nationwide. I also have the entire CBS Radio Mystery Theatre which I also purchased from the same person which includes The Whistler, The War Of The Worlds, Pearl Harbor Attacked, and a more recent radio show called Alien Worlds.

[KD4GNC]

I have been an avid fan of The Shadow for several decades in fact I have purchased the entire collection on CD in mp3 format from a person that sells these things at several places nationwide. I also have the entire CBS Radio Mystery Theatre which I also purchased from the same person which includes The Whistler, The War Of The Worlds, Pearl Harbor Attacked, and a more recent radio show called Alien Worlds.

[badbook1]

Im 32 years old, and love these old radio programs. I have tons of them on tapes and cd's. My fav is The Shadow. Using your mind to picture the story is a lost art in the modern technology age. Bless this old form of entertainment.

[Thermionman1970]

I am lucky, there are two radio stations in my area that play these radio shows and I listen to them frequently through my tube radios and it is marvelous! I would however like to build an AM transmitter that is tube based .There are so many old songs that are not played ,or not plyed very often on the radio. It is great to sit back and dim the lights and listen to these shows and there are so many of them!

[TheFrontrowkid]

This appears to be a 1937 Zenith "Magic eye" console radio with push button dialing. Crosley Radio of Cincinnati put out a similar model and put stickers on the dial buttons so you can tell which station was where. Just guessing but I would say that this radio cost about $65 when new. Of course then, you could make weekly payments of $5. Bret Morrison was perhaps the best known Shadow (aside frrom Orson Welles) as he (Morrison) played the part for about ten years. The Shadow was on Sundays.

[funfabmegan]

I love this..my dad use to have cds. of these old radio shows and would play them in the car. And there use to be a station that would play them as well. lol. Its hard to believe this was tv before tv. Just too cool.

[theshadowknose]

The shadow knose

[MrSidMan]

You, my friend, are a resurrector of vintage radio!

[annmchst]

I love this!!! There is a store on Ebay that sells complete or almost complete MP3 disk of series of Old Time Radio Shows. They are really cheap and great quality. Also look up Relic Radio on the internet and they feature all the old time radio shows too that you can listen too. Podcasts too if you type in Old Time Radio. I love listening to these!! I love the radio too, would go perfect here in the living room. Thanks for the video!!

[666SATANSRAVEN666]

The Shadow Rules!!!!

[chandlercanfly]

OMG! excited to find this kind of thing on youtube. There used to be a radio station in the LA area that would play old time radio shows on certain nights, my mother used to tape them so I'd listen all the time. The first time I ever recall being scared of anything fictional was due to an episode of The Shadow. Nothing beats old time radio. Thank God so many have been preserved! I just hope that young people continue to discover the magic.

[scootsie119]

i love old time radio. ive listened to war of teh worlds so many times. some of my favorties are Fibber Mcgee and Father knows best, some other good ones are the Line up, nightwatch, and ozzie and harriet.

Ive listedn to the first 2 so much i already have a mental image of their homes and town.

Im also a horror buff, what are some good shows from the radio days?

[desertfalcon5]

Thanks for the nice listening... DesertFalcon

[fallbread]

that is great

[fromthesidelines]

The season Orson Welles appeared as "The Shadow" (1937-'38) was the one where Frank Readick's earlier transcribed introduction was used, because Orson couldn't quite master the sinister laugh [and the ONLY one of all those who portrayed "The Shadow"]. The series was heard Sunday afternoons at 5:30pm(et) on Mutual, for the Glenolden Coal Co. {Blue Coal}, in those areas where "Blue Coal" was available...

[50zcarsman]

I have a 9S263 my dad restored. He was a radio engineer at RCA from 1954-83.

[ScarletCrow]

My original love of the anti-hero started with The Shadow.. thanks for this :D

[Crystalwolf78]

sweet I seen these things at Sears once :D and the best thing to play through it The Shadow lol those old coal commercials make me laugh my mom said they used to heat the house like that just put coal in the burner unlike now with gas heaters. I am too young to know too many radio shows but I found out about this one it would have been one I would of listened too a lot of :D

[RICHARDDAVISMCLEOD]

I bought an AM transmitter and can transmit these old radio shows to all of my tube radios at 880 AM. Nothing but talk radio today, not the classic shows of radio's golden years. Radio Archives out of Spokane, Washington has the best CD's of these old shows. They don't use the MP3 format, as they use the regular ones because they can get the best sound transfer. I have bought many of these Radio shows, and have never found a group selling these shows with the quality of Radio Archives.

[globalman]

This was one of my favourite radio shows as a little boy. Born in 1946. We had a TV in 1948 but there was not much back then. We moved to Florida for a couple of years in '49 and there was NO TV there so it was only Radio. Was I thrilled to listen to the Shadow.....just loved that opening. Radio stimulated people's imaginations, forced one's mind to work. This is so great after a lifetime to hear this again. Thank you.

[hunterziegelmann]

do they sell/make replica's or real ones of these anymore friggin epic radio scary looking yet still has old time-ish look to it...

[KyaCrow]

Wow thanks When I was in junior high I stayed up late at night just to hear the shadows radio show. I was soo happy that they still had those kinds of things on air but sadly a few years ago they stopped playing it I love these they should still have them on air :)

[swingbands1]

I love the lovely old radio & "The Shadow" is realy cool.

Our local AM station(in Newcastle, Australia) played a complete series of the shadow last year and I listened in on my "Hotpoint Bandmaster" wireless

[robothedgehog]

why cant they make cool looking radios like this today

[Teflon65]

Wish you would post the rest of this show. It's pretty good.

[aberdurant]

how did you get the shadow to play on the radio

[RICHARDDAVISMCLEOD]

This is really a beautiful Zenith Radio Console. The sound is great, resonant and definitely from a gentler, calmer era than the days in which we live today. What year was this Zenith made, and could you share the Model number? Thanks for putting on such a great video of this magnificent Zenith Radio!

[TheClassicalLiberal]

I saw on wikipedia that there was supposed to be a Shadow movie made in 2006, but they've delayed production till 2012. That kinda sucks. My grandfather was a fan of this, and he's 83. I don't think he's gonna be around much longer. Its a shame they didn't make it sooner.

[AlucardsQuest]

@TheClassicalLiberal The was a movie in 1994, it's a bit of a mess but not all that bad actually.

[TheSkervich]

@TheClassicalLiberal They already made The Shadow into a movie. It starred Alec Baldwin.

[TheGreekMan1981]

@TheClassicalLiberal  Is he still alive?

[Hotshotter3000]

@TheClassicalLiberal Wasn't there another Shadow movie in the early 90's?

[TheMugsyboy]

@TheClassicalLiberal There was a Shadow movie made, it star's Alec Baldwin. Check it out, even if you hadn't known about The Shadow, or it's origins, it's still a good film. Still can't compare to the original radio

serials!!!! Hope you and your grandfather get a chance to see it!

[taegwyna]

@TheMugsyboy It's a little ironic that I just started watching that movie last night on Netflix.

[TheClassicalLiberal]

I'm surprised they haven't turned the shadow into a new, Sin City type movie yet. Someone will probably run into the idea when writers are tight for ideas and run out of DC comic superheroes.

[raphtheman]

@TheClassicalLiberal there's the 1994 Alec Baldwin movie which I liked when I was a kid

[Collenbob]

XD I got all the tapes on the Shadow

[633336]

@Collenbob

how!? Where!!?

is there some compolation available?

[Collenbob]

My grandmother had given them to me, I dont know where she got them but they are awesome to listen to

[633336]

@Collenbob

Wow save them, and take good care of them....very rare and possibly valuable!

[gsmarcano]

I think that radio is a Zenith, as I have one, model 1005 and it has the "cathode-ray tube" indicator light in the upper middle too.

[CineRecon]

Go Orson Welles Go!!

[ginaswo]

awesome awesomeness!!!!!!

[snuffy39]

The radio in the video is a Zenith model 10S153. I used own one that I restored but eventually sold.. These are 10 tube sets and are very good radios and very collectible.

[HarborGuy]

We had this giant of a floor radio with air-plane dial too spent many happy hours in front of it after school........Thanks for posting.......

[staticbear76]

i love the shadow it has a bit of static in it i love it

[siouxsienova]

Love it!

[bntherebfore]

Another poster said it was a Zenith. I believe the one we listened to years ago was a Philco. I'd really love to have that radio back today!

[bntherebfore]

Wow! What great memories this stirs up! I can remember our family around a radio that looked very similar to yours. My sister & I would take turns holding a wire (I guess it was an antenna now that I think about it) that was connected to the back of the radio and whenever we would let go of it, we would lose the station. We enjoyed shows such as "Fibber McGee & Molly", Inner Sanctum, The Fat Man, Amos & Andy, Gangbusters, and many others. As Bob Hope would say, thanks for the memories!

[radioguy09]

Hi Would You Know The Brand Name Of The Radio In The youtube Video Of The Shadow.....Johnny

[toadsalad17]

Wow, if only terrorist bombers could be vanquished by oriental mesmerism! We could use L. Cranston and his constant aid and paramour Margot Lane right now. I N C R E D I B L E radio, too.

[trebdude1]

this is very cool..how did you get the recording to play over the radio...not like there's an MP3 jack to hook the ipod up to! (and i'm not one of those retarded kids who needs to be told that there was no internet back in the 1930s)  consider this a legitimate question.

[davesherman74]

I built an AM transmitter from a kit, which uses tubes just like the radio, and it's actually based on a Zenith wireless record player design from the same period. I just have it connected to my CD player, and it plays through the radio like any other station. Thanks for watching!

[toestud]

what a great idea! I wonder if I can do something like that? Does anyone know of any plans out there for such a transmitter?

[MadOldMan]

I suddenly feel like going out and getting me some blue coal!

[ShelleyGirl51]

This Radio is so beautiful, I wish I owned it.

thanks!

[draganryo]

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHH THAT ROCKED!!!!!!! Seriously, no wonder American's were glued to their radio with amazing shit like this! And Welles was amazing! No wonder he freaked the country out!

[fortiesnutcase]

Great idea, great show and a GREAT radio! Thanks for posting!

[CadillacL]

I wish I had grown up durin his era. I was born in '71. We just don't have classic stuff like this.

[StaplersAnonymous]

Our generation doesn't get anything good! What ever became of radio plays? They are so much more terrifying than what you see on the tele.. The scariest thing to see is in one's mind. People need to bring these back.

Thanks for uploading though. Nice to see what media was like back in the day.

[1947Desoto]

I agree. The only time I listen to the radio now is during the Christmas season for the music and that's it. There used to be an hour every sunday of an old radio program. I remember listening to a Sindbad story, a Mystery and a 1960's boxing match. It stopped broadcasting for some reason though. I also don't understand why there no station that plays non-stop '20s, '30s and '40s music. Music just isn't the same anymore. Even the dull '80s and '90s had better music than now.

[TheShadow52]

Superb. Pure americana. We need a return to these times.

[Bladerunner93]

What does Americana mean?

[TheShadow52]

Americana? I'll let wikipedia explain it:

Americana refers to artifacts of the culture of the United States, the history and folklore resultant from its westward expansion. In other words: baseball, apple pie, hot rods, Superman, rock and roll, drive in movies, and old time radio programs like The Shadow ;)

[trebdude1]

thats a kick ass description dude. add Californian surfin', WW2 pin ups, Bugs Bunny and Coca-Cola and you've got it!

[ergos645]

Great radio and great radio show, thanks for posting, a lot better to listen to this than watching the 'Idiot's Lantern' picture tube thingy.

[OlegKostoglatov]

The subject of that "Shadow" story seems very fitting given the news we hear of in these times in which we live. Mad bombers aren't exactly a new phenomenon it seems.

[Lockemeister]

I saw the SHADOW at 7:51.

What a great show. thanks for doing this.

[troypix]

what great memories these shows evoke! I have been a long time member of SPERDVAC that preserves these old shows. The 'Theatre of Mind'...the kids today missed a lot!

[CreativeCritisizm]

was this "Dark Shadow" being played on a local am station as a retro special ? -- did any of these old toumbstone radios have a hook-up for an external antenna ?

[shdow5]

Nothing can compare to the theater of the mind. Todays child does not get to flex that gray matter and peer into their immaginations as we once did. Now we have TV and DVD's to do all the thinking for them. How much of a loss we will suffer..only the Shadow knows! Keep on posting these beautiful pieces of mind art.

[davesherman74]

You said it! That's why I prefer listening to a baseball game on one of my old radios than watching it. Leaves it up to the mind to imagine what the game is like. Thanks for watching!

[Tuxster3]

Beautiful!

Thanks for posting!

[yoladaba]

@shdow5 hmmm... they probably said the same thing when kids started listening to radio programs and stopped reading books.

[CelestialWoodway]

@shdow5 Reading a book would not hurt the kids either. I much prefer reading a great novel to some garbage on TV or at the movies.

[papawx3]

@shdow5 How true! I have been saying the same thing myself for years. I guess this is the end they wish to achieve, don't think for yourself, LET US DO THAT FOR YOU. No individual interpetation. Group think rules supreme. Nowhere else today is this dynamic more easily seem than in our school system, especially in college. Sad is an understatement.

[Mallen151]

@shdow5 Not really. I'm sixteen and I love these old radio dramas. I agree with you on the "Theater of the mind" comment. I disagree however that we have lost as much as you say though. There are plenty of popular podcasts today, which do almost exactly what the classic radio did. Classic radio is still great though. No offense intended, I just felt like saying that.

[JeffHendrie]

@shdow5 Agreed. GET RID OF THE JUNK ON TELEVISION, AND PUT IT ON THE RADIO! :D

[CadillacL]

I wish stations played things like this. I'm 37 & so I never got to hear them, back in the day. Shows like these just cant be beat.

[CreativeCritisizm]

,,check out the old CBS Vincent Price radio shows from the 60s, early 70s, they're good to.

[jspen2]

Nice Zenith too! Beautiful!

[jspen2]

This is great, please post more!

[sadistslasherMM]

Very cool man, I grew up on these and they scaried the crap out of me. My fav it Doom and the Limping Man. My Grandpa has a radio just like thata too.

[lejink]

they play this on a local station after 11pm i love it, old commercials n all

[FatherJudgement]

Awesome there are very few of us that appreciate the art of OTR...Great radio you have there, I'd love to have one myself...

[NardDogz]

Great video!

Are you sure that is a '37? I thought 1937 was the first year with the new giant dial.  Anyway... gorgeous console. I have a restored 1937 6-S-128 tombstone and love it. Will have to try the tube transmitter kit. I built a RAMSEY solid state kit and its performance is terrible. Won't even transmit across the house and frequency drifts like crazy based on temperature.

[nancydup]

Thanks for posting this. My dad and I used to listen to these old shows. He died exactly one year ago, so this is a nice way for me to honor him, by listening to this. :)

[bingcrosby1903]

More info on the kit for the transmitter? name or where to find it please? Thanks, great radio!

[coolbluelights]

you can get it through Antique electronics supply, that's where I get my tubes

[davesherman74]

The kit is sold by Antique Electronic Supply. Thanks for the comment!

[bingcrosby1903]

ha, i actually went out and bought & assembled the kit, one question, how exactly did you connect the audio/ground?

Thanks

[davesherman74]

I took a cable that had a stereo headphone plug at one end, and I split the wires into the two signals and the shield. The shield goes to ground, and the two signals each go through a 1000 ohm resistor to the input (Radio Shack has them). That way, if you have a stereo program both signals will be combined without overloading anything.

[h3dpictures]

cool. what do you use to play the show on the radio? how much restoration was done to the radio?

[davesherman74]

I have a small AM transmitter I built from a kit. The kit was actually based on a 1939 wireless record player design, so it has tubes like the radio. The radio needed a lot of cleaning, a new drive belt for the tuner, new filter capacitors in the power supply, and I re-aligned the receiver. Thanks for visiting!

[coondogtheman1234]

can you play an ipod thru it, I know its fitting to play old time broadcasts on it but id like to hear todays music on an old radio

[davesherman74]

Yes, anything that has a headphone output will work.

[coondogtheman1234]

awesome