''The Five Mysteries Program'' is an

audience participation An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

radio series broadcast on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. rad ...

August 10, 1947 – March 27, 1950. In 1947-48 it aired on Sundays at 2 p.m. Such mysteries were produced and syndicated (1945–48) to individual local radio stations as a "barter-trade" program to sell advertising to local merchants or trade the advertising announcements for goods, services or premiums, such as prizes awarded to listeners in radio station contests or promotions. To facilitate personalizing the shows to individual stations and insert the local ads, the producers put musical interludes in the shows with enough time for a local announcer to introduce the episode, present the advertiser's message and wrap things up with other local information. Each 30-minute episode featured five mini-mysteries dramatized with actors, organ music and sound effects. Solutions to each mystery were then suggested by a panel of listeners and studio guests. The panelists sometimes shared a common background; for example, on the April 14, 1949 program, the amateur sleuths were gas industry officials. Cox, Jim, The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows : Seventeen Programs from the 1940s and 1950s, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2001, pp 222-223 Cast members included

Jackson Beck Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's '' The Adventures of Superman''Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 1 ...

Staats Cotsworth Staats Cotsworth (February 17, 1908 – April 9, 1979) was an actor in old-time radio.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 64. He is ...

, Michael Fitzmaurice, Timmy Hyler, Abby Lewis,

Frank Lovejoy Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir ''The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama '' Night Beat' ...

and Ian MacAllister. Organist

Rosa Rio Rosa Rio (June 2, 1902 – May 13, 2010) was the stage name of American concert pianist Elizabeth Raub, who also provided scores and arrangement for theater, radio, television and film productions later becoming a teacher of music and voice. She s ...

provided the music. While the premise was simple, the mysteries were well written, requiring some thought to come up with the right answer. Similar to the '' Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries'', one listened to the story, evaluated the clues, and at the conclusion, matched wits with the sleuths to correctly identify the suspect. It was one of the few interactive radio shows.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Mysteries Program, The 1940s American radio programs American radio dramas 1940s American game shows 1950s American game shows Mutual Broadcasting System programs