Radio Drama · Old Time Radio · Drama

Best Plays

Heard
1952–1954
Episodes
51

An anthology of hour-long "tab" versions of outstanding Broadway plays - some featuring members of the original stage casts - "Best Plays" was hosted by New York Daily News drama critic John Chapman.

Episodes, in broadcast order

  1. Winterset by Maxwell Ande

    · 1 h 00 min

  2. On Borrowed Time by Paul

    · 59 min

  3. Angel Street by Patrick H

    · 1 h 00 min

  4. The Hasty Heart by John P

    · 1 h 00 min

  5. Arsenic and Old Lace by J

    · 59 min

  6. The Voice of the Turtle b

    · 1 h 00 min

  7. Outward Bound by Sutton V

    · 59 min

  8. Uncle Harry by Thomas Job

    · 57 min

  9. The Philadelphia Story by

    · 55 min

  10. Home of the Brave by Arth

    · 1 h 00 min

  11. Blithe Spirit by Noël Cow

    · 1 h 00 min

  12. Victoria Regina by Lauren

    · 57 min

  13. She Loves Me Not by Howar

    · 59 min

  14. High Tor by Maxwell Ander

    · 59 min

  15. Biography by S.N. Behrman

    · 59 min

  16. Elizabeth the Queen by Ma

    · 1 h 01 min

  17. The Madwoman Of Chaillot

    · 59 min

  18. Missouri Legend by E. (El

    · 1 h 00 min

  19. Rope (Rope's End) by Patr

    · 57 min

  20. Skylark by Samson Raphels

    · 59 min

  21. Craig's Wife by George Ke

    · 1 h 01 min

  22. Night Must Fall by Emlyn

    · 1 h 00 min

  23. A Bell for Adano by Paul

    · 1 h 00 min

  24. Accent on Youth by Samson

    · 59 min

  25. Men in White by Sidney Ki

    · 1 h 03 min

  26. There Shall Be No Night b

    · 1 h 00 min

  27. Camille by Alexandre Duma

    · 59 min

  28. John Loves Mary by Norman

    · 1 h 00 min

  29. Mr. Roberts by Thomas Heg

    · 58 min

  30. Susan and God by Rachel C

    · 54 min

  31. Of Mice And Men by John S

    · 56 min

  32. St. Helena by Jeanne De C

    · 1 h 00 min

  33. Summer and Smoke by Tenne

    · 58 min

  34. The Amazing Dr Clitterhou

    · 1 h 00 min

  35. Autumn Crocus by Dodie Sm

    · 1 h 00 min

  36. Another Language by Rose

    · 1 h 00 min

  37. The Farmer Takes a Wife b

    · 57 min

  38. Macbeth by William Shakes

    · 57 min

  39. The Rose Tattoo by Tennes

    · 59 min

  40. There's Always Juliet by

    · 57 min

  41. The Male Animal by James

    · 1 h 00 min

  42. Detective Story by Sidney

    · 59 min

  43. Tonight at 8 30 [Ways and

    · 1 h 00 min

  44. Kiss the Boys Good-bye by

    · 59 min

  45. Ethan Frome by Owen Davis

    · 1 h 00 min

  46. The Petrified Forest by R

    · 59 min

  47. Alice In Wonderland by Le

    · 53 min

  48. John Loves Mary by Norman

    · 54 min

  49. Sunset Boulevard by Charl

    · 48 min

  50. Biography by S.N. Behrman

    · 55 min

  51. Julius Caesar by William

    · 53 min

Where it comes from 1

The archive items its episodes are played from, best first, with each one’s rights as its archive states them. An episode two sets both hold is played from the first.

  1. Best Plays (1952-1953)

    Old Time Radio · John Chapman · 51 episodes here · archive.org

    Uploader’s mark: Public Domain Mark 1.0: Marked Public Domain Mark 1.0 by its uploader at the Internet Archive; the record gives no basis for it.

From the Old Time Radio collection at the Internet Archive, uploaded by the collector named.

More Drama

Radio drama, old-time radio and historic broadcasts from the Internet Archive (its Old Time Radio collection with the Old Time Radio Researchers' sets, WWII Era Audio Recordings, the Pacifica Radio Archives, the Radio Haiti Archive, German radio plays and listeners' uploads), Wikimedia Commons (with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision's broadcasts) and the Library of Congress. Every episode plays from its archive, which this site does not copy; rights are as each archive states them. Nothing here is called public domain on this site's say-so. In the United States, sound recordings first fixed before 15 February 1972 have federal protection under the Music Modernization Act of 2018, for most until 2067 at the latest, so most American radio of the 1930s to the 1950s is not in the public domain there. Each set shows the licence, mark or statement its archive gives, and says whose it is. Horror, crime, war and westerns are for teenage and adult profiles, racist caricature for adults only, and children’s profiles hear what was made for children. More about these archives.