Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Classic American Dramas Starring Laurence Olivier, Volume 1 cover art

Classic American Dramas Starring Laurence Olivier, Volume 1

By: Theatre Royal, Herman Melville, H. G. Wells
Narrated by: Laurence Olivier
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £3.99

Buy Now for £3.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Editor reviews

Laurence Olivier's voice is absolutely engaging - warm and golden, from a golden age of radio drama. In this classic audiobook, he performs classic works of literature including stories by Herman Melville and H. G. Wells. Olivier gives each of his characters distinct and dynamic voices, and moves between them with perfect fluidity. Accompanied with big-band music and old-school sound effects, this audiobook is pure enjoyment, combined with some of the most beautiful and important stories of all time.

Summary

Fully restored and remastered, Heritage Media presents the greatest of vintage artists in classic dramas of the early America’s. Here is the legendary Laurence Olivier starring in ‘The Country of the Blind’, adapted from the original tale by H. G. Wells and ‘Bartelby’ adapted by Herman Melville.

Theatre Royal is a unique series of classic radio dramas produced in the 1950s by the late Harry Alan Towers. Starring the leading theatre artists of the day it is the only series of radio dramas in which Laurence Olivier ever appeared. He was joined by Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Orson Welles, Robert Morley, John Mills, Michael Redgrave, Trevor Howard, Robert Donut, Alec Guinness and Margaret Lockwood.

Over the Years, Theatre Royal has received a glittering array of accolades, including: “vivid, tense, and compressed.”( Classic radio)

“Craft, like character, ages well.”(Daily Telegraph)

“Great fun to listen to and, as radio history, they are unsurpassed.” (Sunday Telegraph)

“Voices like these justify the Golden Days tag. We won't hear their like again.” (Sunday Times)

“A must for archive fans. The excitement of vintage radio drama with strong storylines.” (Radio Times.)

©2011 Heritage Media Ltd (P)2011 Heritage Media Ltd

What listeners say about Classic American Dramas Starring Laurence Olivier, Volume 1

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

GOOD OLD FASHIONED RADIO The AMERICAN WAY

If you could sum up Classic American Dramas Starring Laurence Olivier, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Typical Hollywood Greats.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Too good to make favourites.

What does Laurence Olivier bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Olivier was the typical old style classic actor who could have made eating a mornings cerial breakfast seem the most triumphant food of the day. That strong archaic rich full voice brought drama to the most undramatic and he did it in that unique Olivier way, and I have yet to discover what that was.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No more emotional than any other.

Any additional comments?

These are good stories from the past. If you like old fashioned 'American ear splitting drama' these are a great listen now and again. The sound is obviously of the era and nothing like the clarity we have today, which for me, adds to why I like this classic collection.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!