Arch Oboler was a prolific radio playwright from the mid-1930s, starting with NBC’s
Lights Out radio show. One of the stories in the 1939 Arch Oboler’s Plays
series was “And Adam Begot,” which told the story of two men and a woman thrown back into
prehistoric times. The story appear in print in a 1944 anthology, was reprised for the 1951
Lights Out TV show, and formed the basis for a 1953 Steve Ditko story in the Black
Magic comic book.
The young dramalist expects to face his biggest casting problem in filling the roles of
the two Neanderthal men which he has written into “And Adam Begot.” He wants a voice,
he explains, which will instantly suggest a cave-man to the radio listener. With that in
mind, he conducted a survey of what people expect in a Neanderthal voice. “A
cross-section of the answers,” Oboler says, “suggests a bass voiced prizefighter,
talking double talk with his mouth full of hot potatoes.”
The young dramalist expects to face his biggest casting problem in filling the roles of
the two Neanderthal men which he has written into “And Adam Begot.” He wants a voice,
he explains, which will instantly suggest a cave-man to the radio listener. With that in
mind, he conducted a survey of what people expect in a Neanderthal voice. “A
cross-section of the answers,” Oboler says, “suggests a bass voiced prizefighter,
talking double talk with his mouth full of hot potatoes.”
1 English variant