Carlton Morse Copyright Script Collection

Carlton Morse (1901-1993) was born in Jennings, Louisiana in 1901, but later moved to Oregon where his parents owned a fruit and dairy ranch. He attended the University of California in Berkeley but never graduated, and his early career included working as a newspaper writer for the Sacramento Union, where he covered radio and police news. Later he moved to San Francisco, working for The San Francisco Bulletin. In September of 1929, Morse became part of the production staff for NBC station KGO, writing radio musical shows, mystery dramas, and serials. His well-known radio serial, "One Man’s Family," debuted in 1932 and ran until 1959, becoming one of the longest-running American radio soap operas. After he retired, he wrote six novels. He married twice, first in 1928 to Patricia De Ball, who died in 1984 and then to his second wife, Mildred. He died in 1993 at the age of 91.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT

When "I Love a Mystery" debuted in1939, Carlton E. Morse (1901 - 1993) was quite well known as the writer, director, and producer of the popular radio serial "One Man’s Family." The show became one of the longest-running American radio soap operas, broadcasting 3,256 episodes from 1932 to 1959. "I Love a Mystery" which Morse also wrote, directed and produced, aired until 1952. Morse created other radio serials including "I Love Adventure," "China Town Squad," "Adventures by Morse," "Family Skeleton," and "His Honor, the Barber."

The Carlton E. Morse Copyright Script Collection spans the years 1939 to1952. It consists of one series, Scripts, which include forty-seven "I Love a Mystery" scripts (1939-1944, 1949-1952), four "Adventures by Morse" scripts (1944) and thirteen "I Love Adventure" scripts (1948), for a total of sixty-four scripts. The collection is arranged by program title, and then chronologically by year and by story number.

RESTRICTION

Materials in this collection may only be reproduced with the permission of the rights holders.

PROVENANCE

The Carlton E. Morse Copyright Script Collection was registered and deposited for copyright at the Library of Congress in 1990 and 1991 by the Morse Family Trust. It is housed in the Recorded Sound Section of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress.

Link to Series I.