BW - EP153—009: Independence Day 1944—The Molle Mystery Theater

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

The man you just heard was Raymond Edward Johnson. He is best-remembered for being the longtime host on Inner Sanctum Mysteries on CBS. After returning from the War, Johnson left the show to pursue more diversified acting interests. However by then, NBC had launched their own mystery program which Johnson often found himself appearing in. It was called The Molle Mystery Theater. Launched on September 7th, 1943 and sponsored by Molle Brushless Shaving Cream, Mystery Theater was hosted by Bernard Lenrow as Geoffrey Barnes, crime fiction connoisseur. Veteran radio actor Bernard Lenrow routinely read one-hundred mystery novels each year and personally selected the stories to be dramatized on the show. Molle featured ’‘the best in mystery and detective fiction,” with tales running from classics by Poe, to moderns by Raymond Chandler. The trademarks were high tension and shocking endings. In July of 1944 it was pulling a rating of 9.1 Tuesdays at 9PM. Many of New York’s most-famous radio actors appeared, like Richard Widmark, Elspeth Eric, Anne Seymour, and Joseph Julian.