| Show Name: | Arch Oboler's Plays |
| Format: | Dramatic anthology |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Syndicates: | NBC Mutual |
| Creator: | Arch Oboler |
| Director: | Arch Oboler |
| Producer: | Arch Oboler |
| First Aired: | March 25, 1939 |
| Last Aired: | October 11, 1945 |
Arch Oboler's Plays is a radio anthology series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939, to March 23, 1940, and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945, to October 11, 1945.[1]
Lewis Titterton, an executive at NBC, originated the program's title. Titterton was described as a man who "thought the future of radio depended on the vision of the writer."[2]
With the launching of Arch Oboler's Plays, Oboler became "the first writer accorded name-in-the-title status."[3] Christopher H. Sterling, in his book Biographical Dictionary of Radio, wrote, "Oboler, writing about 'the terrors and monsters within each of us,' used his stream-of-consciousness technique to shattering effect and made radio a viable new art form."[3]
Oboler used some of the scripts from Arch Oboler's Plays on his later series, Everyman's Theater.[3]
Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Ingrid Bergman, Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Hester Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco.
In 2020, the Library of Congress included the November 18, 1939 episode, "The Bathysphere", among its inductees to the National Recording Registry for "cultural, historical and aesthetic importance to the nation’s recorded sound heritage."[4]
. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio . John Dunning (detective fiction author) . 1998 . Oxford University Press . New York, NY . 978-0-19-507678-3 . 37–39 . Revised . 2019-08-23.