Latitude Zero (1941)

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Latitude Zero
Les/Sandbox/Latitude Zero (radio drama)
Air date February 11 - June 3, 1941;
June 7 - September 27, 1941
Written by Ted Sherdeman, Ann Sherdeman[1]
Channel(s) NBC Pacific Coast Red Network,
NBC Red Network
Genre(s) Adventure, science fiction
Episodes 17
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Latitude Zero is an American science fiction radio drama created by Ted Sherdeman which ran for 17 episodes. It first aired on the West Coast of the United States over the National Broadcasting Network (NBC)'s Pacific Coast Red Network beginning February 11, 1941. A second run took place on the East Coast over NBC's Red Network from June 7 to September 27 of that year. Described in its opening narration as "a story of five men against the world," the series follows the adventures of one Captain Craig McKenzie as he takes three sailors aboard his super-advanced submarine Omega. After multiple failed attempts to bring the story to television, Latitude Zero was finally adapted as a film by Toho of Japan in 1969. Today, only the first episode of the original radio drama is known to still be preserved.

Plot

In the first episode, the three-man crew of the fishing vessel Hope—consisting of Captain Brock Spencer, Tibbs "Babyface" Kennard, and Burt Collins—are returning to Becharof Lake in Alaska after an unsuccessful fishing trip in the Arctic Circle. As they pass by a lone island, Collins spots a massive, highly-advanced submarine embedded in the beach. With a completely smooth exterior free of rivets, an estimated length of 250 feet, and strange horseshoe-like markings, the sub resembles nothing from any known nation. Spencer resolves to investigate and sets course toward the island, and the trio make landfall by dinghy. As they examine the craft, they hear a knocking sound from inside, which Spencer recognizes to be Morse code for SOS. Through more knocks, the survivor guides the men through opening a locked hatch, and they make their way onboard. Inside, the sailors find three corpses and the injured Captain Craig McKenzie, who they carry outside. Spencer tends to McKenzie as Kennard and Collins search for other survivors; McKenzie tells Spencer that he has no nationality and hails from "Latitude Zero," but they are interrupted by the sound of screams from onboard. Spencer and McKenzie rush inside to find Simba, McKenzie's six-and-a-half foot-tall black bodyguard, attacking Kennard and Collins. McKenzie tells Simba to stand down and gives the delirious Kennard a substance to inhale, which helps him come to. Collins threatens that if Simba attacks them again, he'll shoot him in the head, but McKenzie assures him that it would have no effect. The group return outside, where McKenzie introduces himself and explains that the corpses they found onboard were his crew. Spencer doubts that such a craft could be operated by just five people and demands McKenzie tell him who it truly belongs to, to which McKenzie responds that he not only owns the sub, but built it himself. McKenzie directs the sailors to a bronze plate on the sub's conning tower, and makes his way back inside to rest. The sailors are astonished to find that the plate claims the sub, named the Omega, was launched 136 years ago in 1805. Moreover, the men find that a bullet wound that was in Simba's chest has completely healed over. Perplexed as to the situation they've found themselves in, Spencer vows that they will not depart the submarine until they have answers.

The remainder of the series has not been discovered, however some details can be gleaned from contemporary magazine and newspaper reports.

Episodes

No. Air date
West Coast East Coast
1 February 11 June 7
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Lou Merrill   as   Captain Craig McKenzie[2][3]
  • Elliott Lewis   as   Captain Brock Spencer[2][3]
  • Wally Waher   as   Burt Collins[2][3]
  • Jimmy Eagles   as   Tibbs "Babyface" Kennard[2][3]
  • Edwin Max   as   Simba[2][3]
  • Elaine Barrie   as   Lucrezia[2][3]
  • Jay Novello   as   Malic[2]
  • Charles Lung   as   Warren Sheperd[2]


Appearances

Monsters

  • Man-eating crabs[4]
  • Man-eating trees[4]
  • Griffons[4]

Weapons, vehicles, and races

  • Hope
  • Omega
  • Malic's ship[4]
  • Magic ring[4]

Production

References

This is a list of references for Les/Sandbox/Latitude Zero (radio drama). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. The Fresno Bee 1941, p. 3: "The mystery thriller, Latitude Zero, written by Ann and Ted Sherdeman, and starring Lou Merill and Elaine Barrie, will move to the 6:30 P. M. spot this evening after being on the air for several months on Saturday afternoons."
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 The Shreveport Times 1941, p. 11
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 The Fresno Bee 1941, p. 3
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Radio: Latitude Zero". TIME. 23 June 1941.

Bibliography

  • "News Of The Radio World". The Fresno Bee. Vol. 38 no. 6862. 6 September 1941 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Adventure Play On KTBS". The Shreveport Times. Vol. 69 no. 14. 14 June 1941 – via Newspapers.com.
  • Terrace, Vincent (23 November 2009). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows (softcover ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.