Here's another entry in the popular religious dramatic program, "The Greatest Story Ever Told", originally broadcast on ABC radio and based on the best-selling book that novelized stories from the Bible.

Program 55 in the series, as heard on Armed Forces Radio, is the famous story of "The Prodigal Son".  This particular script was broadcast several times during the run of the series, but I think this performance may date from February 13, 1949, based on the sequence of shows in the set that I have.

The program was transferred from an original Armed Forces Radio vinyl transcription.

Since Christmas is on the way, it's a good time to revisit the ABC series "The Greatest Story Ever Told", a program based on the book of the same title, that dramatizes stories and parables from the Bible.

In this post we hear program 54 in the series as heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network and originally broadcast by ABC on February 6, 1949.  "Journey to Tiberious" is the story of a man who learns about generosity and kindness to others as he goes on a journey with his wife.

The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.  It may be an episode not in general circulation among collectors.

Program 53 of the series as broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Service is the story of "The Good Samaritan".  This particular script was used several times during the run of the show, but I think this was probably broadcast on January 30, 1949 on ABC based on logs of the show and the contents of other AFRS discs I have from the series.

It's not one of the best structured scripts in the series - the opening spends almost ten minutes getting to the point where Christ actually tells the story and feels like it's being padded in some ways.

The transfer is from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.

I'm not the biggest fan of religious programming, but "The Greatest Story Ever Told" starts to rub off on you if you listen to a few episodes.  The series ran on ABC in the 1940s and 50s and was based on a popular book that retold stories from the Bible in a form that would be more understandable to today's audiences.  Some shows are based on specific incidents in the Bible, while others are fictionalized dramas crafted around one of Christ's teachings.

Program 52 in the series, "The Figure at the Door", concerns a man who is obsessed with a little mystery - it seems one of his rivals in the community hasn't appeared in public for two weeks.  Is he hiding some kind of secret?  Otrsite's log on the series dates this episode, which may be uncirculated among Old Time Radio collectors, to January 23, 1949.  Other discs I have in the series seem to date from this time period.

The program was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.

"The Greatest Story Ever Told" was an unusual series of Biblical dramas carried on the ABC network in the 1940s and 50s.  Based on a bestselling book that novelized great stories from the Bible, the program took basic moral questions and turned them into compelling dramas that could be thought of in everyday situations.  The approach can be a bit, well, cheesy at times and remind one of a Cecil B. DeMille movie.

In this post, program 51 in the series as it was carried by the Armed Forces Radio Service, originally broadcast on ABC on January 16, 1949, according to Goldin and otrsite.  "The House in Darkness" looks at a woman who is obsessed with the death of her son and learns that charity to the living is more important than her own fears.  I think this may be an uncirculated program in the series.

It was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription and has undergone some scrubbing with some click reduction software.  I'll be posting more programs from the series in the coming months.