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Ceiling Unlimited

15 episodes · 1942–1944 · CBS · Drama

Play Ceiling Unlimited on Radio Days

Orson Welles's wartime salute to aviation, 1942-43: fifteen-minute stories of bombers, airline pioneers, gremlins and the workers who built the planes, written, produced and narrated by Welles. The show later became a variety program.

Sources: RadioGOLDINdex

Episodes

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1942

• Flying Fortress November 9, 1942 · CBS · 15 min
  The first show, announced as a trial program: the Flying Fortress and how it's winning the war, and Orson Welles chats with Leonardo da Vinci.
• Air Transport Command November 16, 1942 · CBS · 14 min
  Three old-timers talk over the news, including a young relative's work in the Air Transport Command.
• The Navigator November 23, 1942 · 14 min
• Wind, Sand and Stars November 30, 1942 · CBS · 15 min
  A tribute to a pioneer airmail flyer lost over the Atlas Mountains, with Burgess Meredith.
• War Workers December 14, 1942 · CBS · 15 min
  After catching a "spy" at the Lockheed-Vega plant, Welles gives German listeners a tour of the aircraft factory.
• Gremlins December 21, 1942 · CBS · 15 min
  Gremlins, the little demons of aviation, and how a pilot learns to handle them, with a bottle of cream. By Lucille Fletcher.
• Pan American Airlines December 28, 1942 · CBS · 14 min
  The early Pan Am Clipper flights and the people who made them possible.

1943

• Anti-Submarine Patrol January 4, 1943 · CBS · 15 min
  Edward G. Robinson fills in for Welles, out sick, with the story of a shift on anti-submarine patrol.
• Finger in the Air January 11, 1943 · CBS · 15 min
  The story of a pilot, beautifully written and performed.
• Letter to Mother January 18, 1943 · CBS · 15 min
  An airman writes home that all is well, but his mother knows the truth.
• Mrs. James and the Pot of Tea January 25, 1943 · CBS · 15 min
  Welles, as an Irish sergeant, has kind words for an old bomber that always comes back.
• The Future February 1, 1943 · CBS · 15 min
  A scene at La Guardia Airport three years in the future.
• The Rulers of the Earth (aka Dictators Meeting in Hell) May 10, 1943 · 14 min
• Christmas Show December 25, 1943 · 18 min

1944

• God's Corporals April 9, 1944 · CBS · 29 min
  An Easter program from the later variety version of the show, with the story "God's Corporals."