John Zacherle in character as Roland at WRTI in 1958
Unless otherwise stated, all Monday, Tuesday and Friday airings started at 11:25 pm. Saturday shows began at 11:20 pm. Airing station was WCAU-TV, Channel 10 in Philadelphia. Originally called "The Shock Theatre," later shortened to just "Shock Theatre."
It featured John Zacherle as Roland for each program (all were live) except Friday, April 18, 1958 and Saturday, April 19, 1958. Those shows were hosted by "My Dear," Roland's wife. The reason was that Zacherle walked out a day or two before over what were called "salary disputes." Additional duties (for no or little extra cash) were also part of the dispute. Channel 10 actually announced that Zacherle was off the show and would be replaced by a different actor whom would play the character of Roland. The situation didn't get passed that weekend and by the next weekend, he was back. When the movie is repeated, we have not given you a plot line nor the stars. It is listed under the first airing. The first show aired on Monday, October 7, 1957. The last one was Saturday, September 13, 1958.
By the way, the Saturday, March 8, 1958 broadcast also had John Zacherle missing. However, on that night, he was in Pittsburgh receiving an award. His absence that evening was totally planned.
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Monday, October 7, 1957
(First show)
Frankenstein (1932) Philadelphia TV Debut
A young scientist has fashioned a human body. He is conducting experiments to see if he can give it life.
Starred Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. .
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Tuesday, October 8, 1957
Dracula (1931) Philadelphia TV Debut
Count Dracula is a vampire who rises from his grave each night to seek victims from who he can draw the blood he requires.
Starred Bela Lugosi and David Manners.
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Monday, October 14, 1957
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
An archeologist is mysteriously murdered by a fanatical Egyptian priest who had vowed vengeance against him, claiming he had defiled the tomb of an ancient mummy.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Turhan Bey.
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Tuesday, October 15, 1957
The Werewolf of London (1935) Philadelphia TV Debut
A botanist traveling in Tibet discovers an extra ordinary flower, useful in combating werewolves.
Starred Henry Hull and Warren Oland.
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Monday, October 21, 1957
The Invisible Man (1933) Philadelphia TV Debut
A young chemist disappears while working on a new chemical which is known to bleach animals and render them insane.
Starred Claude Rains & Gloria Stuart.
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Tuesday, October 22, 1957
Dracula's Daughter (1936) Philadelphia TV Debut
Dracula's daughter has burned the body of her vampire father and gone to London. There, a young man becomes interested in her.
Starred Otto Kruger and Marguerite Churchill.
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Monday, October 28, 1957
The Mad Ghoul (1943) Philadelphia TV Debut
A doctor discovers a strange poison.
Starred George Zucco and Turhan Bey.
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Tuesday, October 29, 1957
The Wolf Man (1941) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man kills a wolf that attacked his sweetheart's friend.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Claude Rains.
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Monday, November 4, 1957
House of Horrors (1946)
A sculptor rescues a grotesque creature from drowning and takes it to his studio. He hopes to use it again in his sinister plot to gain revenge on an art critic whom he thinks is his enemy.
Starred Robert Lowery and Virginia Grey.
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Tuesday, November 5, 1957
The Return of the Vampire (1944) Philadelphia TV Debut
Restored from the grave, a vampire hunts for young girls.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Frieda Inescort.
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Monday, November 11, 1957
Son of Dracula (1943) Philadelphia TV Debut
At their plantation, a Southern colonel and his daughter are entertaining the girl's fiance and a mysterious gentleman known as Count Alucurd.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Robert Paige.
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Tuesday, November 12, 1957
The Son of Frankenstein (1939) Philadelphia TV Debut
A crazed shepherd uses the Frankenstein monster to gain revenge on the jurors who sentenced him to hang for grave robbing.
Starred Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone.
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Monday, November 18, 1957
Night Monster (1942)
A female psychiatrist is summoned to the house of a crippled man. Upon arrival, she meets the man's three doctors, all of whom are soon strangled.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Leif Erickson.
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Tuesday, November 19, 1957
Man-Made Monster (1941) Philadelphia TV Debut
A mad scientist experiments with human beings.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Lionel Atwill.
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Monday, November 25, 1957
The Frozen Ghost (1945)
Ahypnotist breaks his engagement to his assistant when one of his subjects dies of a heart attack.
Starred Lon Chaney and Evelyn Ankers.
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Tuesday, November 26, 1957
The Black Cat (1934)
A young American novelist and his wife, stranded in Hungary, become the house guests of a man who is the leader of a cult of devil worshippers.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Brois Karloff.
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Monday, December 2, 1957
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
A man is convicted of murdering his brother.
Starred Vincent Price and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
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Tuesday, December 3, 1957
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The Wolf Man digs up the body of Frankenstein and the two terrorize the surrounding area.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi.
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Monday, December 9, 1957
The Invisible Ray (1935) Philadelphia TV Debut
A brilliant scientist heads an expedition into Africa.
Starred Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
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Tuesday, December 10, 1957
The Mummy (1932)
An archeological expedition discovers the mummy of Im-Ho-Tep in an Egyptian tomb. Years later, Im-Ho-Tep, who has come to life, directs another expedition. This one to the tomb of an Egyptian princess.
Starred Boris Karloff and David Manners.
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Monday, December 16, 1957
The She Wolf of London (1946) Philadelphia TV Debut
A young couple meet and fall in love but before they are married, two ghastly murders occur.
Starred June Lockhart and Don Porter.
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Tuesday, December 17, 1957
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) Philadelphia TV Debut
A girl comes to a new town to act as a companion to a blind woman. She meets a frightening deaf-mute servant.
Starred Brenda Joyce and Kirby Grant.
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Monday, December 23, 1957
The Raven (1935) Philadelphia TV Debut
A plastic surgeon falls in love with a girl. She refuses his love, and he decides to kill her.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
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Tuesday, December 24, 1957
Shock Theatre pre-empted because of Christmas eve programming.
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Monday, December 30, 1958
Human Monster (1940)
A deranged physician becomes involved in an insurance policy racket.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Greta Gynt.
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Tuesday, December 31, 1957
(started at 12:15 am because of New Year's eve programming)
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
When a ship sinks in the South Seas, one lifeboat lands safely on a tropical island. Among the survivors are a mad scientist, a woman passenger and her niece, and a prizefighter.
Starred Lionel Atwill and Claire Dodd.
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Monday, January 6, 1958
The Ape (1940) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man doctor gets body parts from those he thinks should not live.
Starred Boris Karloff and Gertrude Hoffman.
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Tuesday, January 7, 1958
Donovan's Brain (1954) Philadelphia TV Debut
A scientist has discovered a way to keep animal tissue alive. His big opportunity comes when a mult-millionaire is killed in a plane crash and he sets out to keep the dead man's brain alive.
Starred Lew Ayres and Nancy Davis (Mrs. Ronald Reagan).
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Monday, January 13, 1958
The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
A body is found floating in the Seine River. It is identified as the corpse of a musical comedy star who has disappeared. From the story by Edgar Allan Poe.
Starred Patricia Knowles and Edward Norris.
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Tuesday, January 14, 1958
Horror Island (1941) Philadelphia TV Debut
A young man organizes a treasure hunt to search for pirate treasure on an island he owns off the Florida coast.
Starred Leo Carrillo and Peggy Moran.
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Monday, January 20, 1958
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) Philadelphia TV Debut
The choirmaster of a cathedral is an opium eater. He is in love with a girl who takes singing lessons from him, but she loves his nephew.
Starred Claude Rains and David Manners.
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Tuesday, January 21, 1958
Weird Woman (1944) Philadelphia TV Debut
A college professor goes on an expedition to a tropical island where he meets and marries a girl who has been brought to by superstitious natives.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Anne Gwynne.
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Monday, January 27, 1958
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
A private detective tries to unravel a series of murders performed by a mysterious killer.
Starred Patricia Knowles and Anne Gwynne.
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Tuesday, January 28, 1958
Chamber of Horrors (1940) Philadelphia TV Debut
After the death of their wealthy benefactor, his trusted friends and servants steal the keys to his tomb where his treasure of jewels has been placed.
Starred Lilli Palmer and Leslie Banks.
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Monday, February 3, 1958
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) Philadelphia TV Debut
An Egyptian is sent to America to recover the remains of a princess whose coffin was stolen from Egypt.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and John Carradine.
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Tuesday, February 4, 1958
The Devil Girl from Mars (English, 1955) Philadelphia TV Debut
A space ship carrying a female Martian crash lands in the Scottish highlands.
Starred Hazel Court and Hugh McDermott.
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Monday, February 10, 1958
The Great Impersonation (1935) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man who works for a munitions maker discovers that he is a double for an English nobleman.
Starred Edmund Lowe and Valerie Hobson.
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Tuesday, February 11, 1958
Nightmare (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
A penniless gambler enters a strange apartment where he discovers a dead body.
Starred Brian Donlevy and Diana Barrymore.
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Monday, February 17, 1958 & Tuesday, February 18, 1958
No Shock Theater. It has now moved to Fridays and Saturdays
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Friday, Febuary 21, 1958
Pillow of Death (1945) Philadelphia TV Debut
A well-to-do lawyer murders his wife after falling in love with a beautiful young heiress.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr., and Brenda Joyce.
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Saturday, February 22, 1958
The Man Who Cried Wolf (1937) Philadelphia TV Debut
Apparently obsessed by a craze for publicity, an actor continually confesses to crimes he did not commit.
Starred Lewis Stone and Tom Brown.
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Friday, February 28, 1958
The Mummy's Hand (1940) Philadelphia TV Debut
Archeologists set out in search of the tomb of a princess.
Starred Dick Foran and Tom Tyler.
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Saturday, March 1, 1958
Frankenstein (1932)
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Friday, March 7, 1958
Dracula (1931)
Roland makes a "Dracula Fizz" drink.
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Saturday, March 8, 1958
Four Sided Triangle (English, 1953)
Two young scientists have created an instrument which can duplicate anything in the world.
Starred Barbara Payton and James Hayter.
John Zacherle was in Western Pennsylvania this night receiving an award so My Dear & Igor hosted "Shock Theatre" for that evening.
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Friday, March 14, 1958
The Mystery of the White Room (1939) Philadelphia TV Debut
A doctor is stabbed to death when the lights go out in an operating room during surgery.
Starred Bruce Cabot and Helen Mack.
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Saturday, March 15, 1958
The Secret of the Blue Room (1933) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man, his daughter and her three suitors are gathered together at the man's castle. The man talks about three murders.
Starred Lionel Atwill and Gloria Stewart.
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Friday, March 21, 1958
Murders on the Rue Morgue (1932)
Dr. Mirakle is known as a side show charlatan. He displays and ape in a cage and secretly plans to prove his claim by cross breeding the ape with a woman.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Sidney Fox.
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Saturday, March 22, 1958
Secrets of the Chateau (1934) Philadelphia TV Debut
Two men offer to sell a bookshop owner the original Gutenburg Bible.
Starred Claire Doff and George E. Stone.
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Friday, March 28, 1958
The Cat Creeps (1946) Philadelphia TV Debut
A reporter learns that an odd suicide case is actually a murder.
Starred Paul Kelly & Lois Collier.
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Saturday, March 29, 1958
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) Philadelphia TV Debut
A blind artist is accused of mudering his benefactor for the man's eyes.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr and Paul Kelly.
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Friday, April 4, 1958
Destination Unknown (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut
A Dutch spy working for the Allies contacts an enemy agent in an attempt to learn the weherabouts of the priceless St. Petersburg jewels.
Starred William Gargan and Irene Hervey.
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Saturday, April 5, 1958
The Witness Vanishes (1939) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man who was railroaded into an insane asylum many years before escapes and sets out to kill.
Starred Edmund Lowe and Wendy Barrie.
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Friday, April 11, 1958
Red Planet Mars (1952)
An American couple establishes contact with Mars.
Starred Peter Graves and Andrea King.
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Saturday, April 12, 1958
The Werewolf of London (1935)
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Friday, April 18, 1958 (hosted by My Dear instead of Roland)
Revenge of the Zombies (1943) Philadelphia TV Debut
A scientist conceives of an army of zombies.
Starred John Carradine and Gale Storm.
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Saturday, April 19, 1958 (hosted by My Dear instead of Roland)
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
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Friday, April 25, 1958
The Wolf Man (1941)
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Saturday, April 26, 1958
House of Horrors (1946)
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Friday, May 2, 1958
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
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Saturday, May 3, 1958
Night Monster (1942)
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Friday, May 9, 1958
The Invisible Man (1933)
A strange man takes refuge at an inn during a snow storm. Every part of his body is covered because a scientific experiment has gone awry. Once he removes his garments, his body becomes invisible.
Starred Calude Rains and Gloria Stuart.
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Saturday, May 10, 1958
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
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Friday, May 16, 1958
Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)
A doctor has transformed an ape into a man.
Starred J. Carroll Nash and John Shepperd.
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Saturday, May 17, 1958
Cry of the Werewolf (1944)
The queen of a gypsy tribe learns that the head of a New Orleans museum has proof that her mother was a werewolf.
Starred Stephen Crane and Nina Foch.
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Friday, May 23, 1958
Man Made Monster (1941)
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Saturday, May 24, 1958
The Return of the Vampire (1944)
Restored from his grave, by night, a vampire hunts for young girls.
Starred Bela Lugosi and Frieda Inescort.
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Friday, May 30, 1958
The Frozen Ghost (1945)
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Saturday, May 31, 1958
The Black Cat (1934)
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Friday, June 6, 1958
The Son of Frankenstein (1939)
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Saturday, June 7, 1958
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
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Friday, June 13, 1958
The Invisible Ray (1935)
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Saturday, June 14, 1958
The She Wolf of London (1946)
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Friday, June 20, 1958
Midnight Limited (1940) Philadelphia TV Debut
An ace detective is called in to investigate a robbery on a Canadian train.
Starred John King and Marjorie Reynolds.
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Saturday, June 21, 1958
Calling Dr. Death (1943)
A prominent neurologist's malicious wife plots to destroy their marriage.
Starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and J. Carrol Naish.
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Friday, June 27, 1958
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946)
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Saturday, June 28, 1958
The Raven (1935)
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Friday, July 4, 1958
The Soul of a Monster (1944)
A dying man is saved by the supernatural powers of a fiendish woman who keeps him under her hypnotic control to do her evil deeds.
Starred Rose Hobart and Jim Bannon.
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Saturday, July 5, 1958
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942)
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Friday, July 11, 1958
The Ape (1940)
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Saturday, July 12, 1958
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
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Friday, July 18, 1958
The Human Monster (1940)
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Saturday, July 19, 1958
The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
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Friday, July 25, 1958
Chamber of Horrors (1940)
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Saturday, July 26, 1958
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)
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Friday, August 1, 1958
Hangover Square (1945)
A pianist-composer has a Jekyll and Hyde personality and, at times, turns into a madman.
Starred Laird Cregar and Linda Darnell.
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Saturday, August 2, 1958
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
Sherlock Holmes attempts to uncover the mystery surrounding the Baskerville castle.
Starred Richard Greene, Basil Bathbone and Nigel Bruce.
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Friday, August 8, 1958
Weird Woman (1944)
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Saturday, August 9, 1958
Booby Trap (English, 1951)
An absent minded professor leaves a fountain pen loaded with explosives in a taxi cab.
Starred Patti Morgan.
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Friday, August 15, 1958
Horror Island (1941)
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Saturday, August 16, 1958
The Strange Case of Dr. Rx
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Friday, August 22, 1958
Pillow of Death (1945)
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Saturday, August 23, 1958
The Four Sided Traingle (English, 1953)
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Friday, August 29, 1958
Murders on the Rue Morgue (1932)
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Saturday, August 30, 1958
The Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
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Friday, September 5, 1958
The Mummy (1932)
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Saturday, September 6, 1958
(started an hour late because of the Miss America Pageant)
The Black Sleep (1956) Philadelphia TV Debut
A man operates on the head of unwilling victims to find a cure for his wife's brain condition.
Starred Basil Rathbone and Lon Chaney, Jr.
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Friday, September 12, 1958
The Creeping Unknown (English, 1955)
A new rocket is sent hurtling into space with three men on board.
Starred Brian Donlevy and Jack Warner.
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Saturday, September 13, 1958
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
(Last show with Roland. The program continued but without a host. It moved to 1 am a month later and was cancelled within a year.)
From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
Text researched and compiled by Broadcast Pioneers member Gerry Wilkinson
© 2003, Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
All Rights Reserved
The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com