'Elizabeth Blackburn took husband Jeffery—much against his will—down to Kettering Old House, recently rented by those inveterate practical jokers, Sally and Jim Rutland. Here they met Rutland's Aunt Florence; Lambert, the detective novelist; and Wishart, the financier. Here, too, they learned of the mysterious room—a room in which people vanished in the twinkling of an eye. Of course, it was all fantastic—until, one by one, the household began to disappear!'
Source:
'Highlights of the A.B.C.', Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 26 September 1940, p.2.
The Vanishing Trick
Australia
:
Project Gutenberg Australia
,
2014
12972503
1948
single work
short story
crime
Based on Afford's earlier radio play, one of the adventures of Elizabeth and Jeffrey Blackburn.
AUSTRALIA:
Originally scheduled for broadcast on 27 September 1940 at 8:30pm (see 'Broadcasting Features from the National Stations', Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser, 13 September 1940, p.2).
After being pulled from the schedule for unspecified reasons, it was broadcast on 1 November 1940, at 8:15pm (see 'Broadcasting Features from the National Stations', Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser, 18 October 1940, p.12).
ENGLAND:
Two different versions of this radio play were produced for the BBC.
Hugh Stewart produced the original version in 1945: it was broadcast on the Home Service on 24 February 1945.
Cast members: Ivan Brandt (Jeffrey Blackburn), Lydia Sherwood (Elizabeth Blackburn), Tommy Duggan (Jim Rutland), Bessie Love (Sally Rutland), Heron Carvic (Evan Lambert), Laidman Browne (John Wishart), Gladys Young (Miss Rountree), Arthur Ridley (Benson), and Stanley Groome (Gleason).
Leslie Stokes produced a second version in 1946: it was broadcast on the Light Service on 6 February 1946.
Cast members: Frank Allenby (Jeffery Blackburn), Lydia Sherwood (Elizabeth Blackburn), Alan Keith (Jim Rutland), Marilyn Williams (Sally Rutland), Gwen Day Burroughs (Aunt Florence), Leslie Perrins (John Wishart), Cyril Gardiner (Evan Lambert), Arthur Ridley (Benson), and Eddy Reed (Gleason).
