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Mystery Theater

Drama: Classic & Period

Hollywood greats star in classic dramas from the golden days of American radio

Mystery Theater: The Black Museum: Orson Welles 1/2

The Black Museum: Orson Welles

02/08/2015

The Black Museum: Orson Welles 1/2

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Mystery Theater, The Black Museum: Orson Welles 1/2

Orson Welles' tale inspired by a case from Scotland Yard's gallery of murder artefacts.

1952: The Open End Wrench. Orson Welles' tale inspired by a real case from Scotland Yard's gruesome gallery of murder artefacts.

'The Open End Wrench'. Orson Welles' tale inspired by a real case from Scotland Yard's gruesome gallery of murder artefacts. 

The significance of the wrench is not necessarily what you'd assume, at least not at first. Lowly quiet Martin Beech appears to have been cuckolded, but is his shock at the drunk-driving demise of his wife genuine? 

The films of Orson Welles films have guaranteed him a place in the pantheon of film heroes (Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil). This series is one of several fascinating sidesteps into a medium which arguably contributed to Welles' success - radio. Thanks to Harry Alan Towers, British radio was host to his dulcet tones for a spell in the early 1950s - including his famous cinematic anti-hero in The Lives of Harry Lime. 

In The Black Museum, Orson is your host and guide through tales based on the grim and ominous collection of objects connected to significant British crimes. 

Produced by Towers of London and first broadcast in the USA in 1952.

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