Mystery and Crime Drama (1943 - 54)
"A startling new series, featuring the world's most spine-tingling plays and stories.
Presented every Tuesday evening by Molle Brushless Shaving Cream."
 The sponsor of this show, Sterling Drugs, makers of Molle
Shave Cream, used it as a vehicle for advertising. In
over a decade, the show went through several incarnations,
beginning first as Molle Mystery Theater, then
simply Mystery Theater in '48, as Sterling emphasized
Bayer Aspirin and Phillips Milk of Magnesia. Several versions
were broadcast in the early 50s,
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 As Molle Mystery Theater through 1948, the show
centered around the character Geoffrey Barnes, a crime
fiction expert and connoisseur who served as host. Bernard
Lenrow played Barnes with a suave subtlety that foreshadowed
the host of Crime Classics,
a fact-based crime show that ran in '53-'54. The Molle
Mystery Theater starred
some of the best of New York's radio actors, including
Joseph Julian, Anne Seymour, and Raymond Edward Johnson
(the famous Raymond of the Inner
Sanctum Mysteries, and librarian of the
Crime Club.) Hosted by Peter Lorre, Bernard Lenrow, and Roc Rogers, the series also featured special appearances by Richard Widmark Budd Collyer, Martin Gable, Mandel Kramer, Elspeth Eric, and Frank Lovejoy (who does a great job as Randy Stone in the old time radio show Nightbeat.)
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The shows were tight and tension filled, with a fine
orchestra score and solid production values. Classic
tales from well-known authors, as well as modern unknowns
were presented, and the endings were often twists or
shockers.
 When it moved in 1948, it was produced by Frank and
Anne Hummert, who made their name in soap operas. The
Geoffrey Barnes host was kept, but the shows were considered
by fans to be less inventive. Alfred Shirley (who also
played Watson of Sherlock
Holmes)
played a new character, Inspector Hearthstone
of the Death Squad. Hearthstone was spun off
as Hearthstone
of the Death Squad, and then in 1951 through 1954,
broadcast as continuation of Mystery Theater with
a new format.  The show was also known as Mark Sabre.
Robert Carroll played Inspector Mark Sabre, with James
Westerfield as Sgt. Maloney. Again, the Hummerts were
in charge, and their style was much more like classic
old time radio drama of the 1930s than a crime show
airing in the 1950s.
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For more mystery anthology entertainment, the greatest
show is Suspense. Escape
is a classic thriller show too, as is Inner
Sanctum Mysteries, Lights
Out and the several runs of Sherlock
Holmes.
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