Sometimes great ideas fail to get off the ground, even in radio.

Although it seemed like a terrific concept, NBC’s Action Theater never made it past the audition broadcast. Taking a page from great anthology series like Suspense and Escape, Action Theater planned to feature stories of “men who lived dangerous lives”. What would have set Action apart from the CBS anthologies was that it was to be performed before a live studio audience.

Adaptations from the writing of Joseph Conrad, Jack London and Hemingway were in the works. The surviving audition program, “High Explosive”, is the story of a man who makes his living hauling nitroglycerin. Talk about needing steady nerves!