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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-07-11_01_dracula.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-07-18_02_treasure_island.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-07-25_03_a_tale_of_two_cities.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-08-01_04_the_thirty_nine_steps.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-08-08_05_im_a_fool,_my_little_boy,_open_window.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-08-15_06_abraham_lincoln.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-08-22_07_the_affairs_of_anatole.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-08-29_08_the_count_of_monte_cristo.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-09-05_09_the_man_who_was_thursday.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-09-11_10_julius_caesar_rehearsalmp3.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-09-25_12_the_immortal_sherlock_holmes.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-10-09_14_hell_on_ice.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-10-16_15_seventeen.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-10-23_16_around_the_world_in_80_days.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-10-30_17_war_of_the_worlds.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-11-06_18_the_heart_of_darkness_life_with_father.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-11-13_19_a_passenger_to_bali.mp3PLAY
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the_mercury_theatre_on_the_air_38-11-20_20_pickwick_papers.mp3PLAY
Show Information
The Mercury Theatre on the Air was a radio series of live radio dramas created by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with music composed or arranged by Bernard Herrmann.
The series began July 11, 1938, as a sustaining program on the CBS Radio network, airing Mondays at 9 p.m. ET. On September 11, 1938, the show moved to Sundays at 8 p.m.
After the front-page headlines generated by the "The War of the Worlds" (October 30, 1938) — one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio due to the mass panic it accidentally caused — Campbell's Soup signed on as sponsor. The Mercury Theatre on the Air made its last broadcast December 4, 1938, and The Campbell Playhouse began December 9, 1938.