All the names are Germanic in this episode, and people ride horses from place to place, giving a sort of classical European flavor to this episode. Nice happy ending. Supernatural story involving miraculous healing.

I grow up in a very conservative christian family. We didnt have a TV. CBS mystery theater on KNX 1070 in LA was what I looked forward to more than anything else. Thank you for letting me relive My best childhood memories😘 I listen to M.T. every nite And so do so of my siblings. God bless. Your biggest fan. Chris

I totally agree. As a teenager i would fall asleep or 'try to' listening to CBS RMT in the dark of my room. What a joy to be able relive and 'live' some of the plays i never heard, i find myself doing the same at 54, and feeling the excitement i felt as a teenager.

I was really pumped a few minutes into A Very Old Man. What a great plot. The father-in-law of a doctor has the ability to see "through" his patients and fix wrong diagnoses, and also a kind of healing "touch" that cures people and animals. Unfortunately, his daughter thinks the old man is crazy, and as more people start to think he's a miracle worker, his son-in-law starts to get jealous. The great plot, though, was dampened by extremely poor acting. Santos Ortega was OK a the old man, but the daughter and son-in-law were atrocious.

Real human drama, basic but extraordinary. A very good episode.

An ancient man has the power to heal people with his touch and has uncanny insight into people's character and motives.

Little too sappy in places, but otherwise a decent story. Rose shines.

An old man appears to have the power to diagnosis and heal people, much to the chagrin and embarasment of his son-in-law the medical doctor. How far we have come in the last quarter century in our treatment of the elderly. A loose script.

In the end this was really a sentimental/sweet tale about a very old man and how he changed the people around him.

We were on our trip to Grand Canyon on highway 40 when I played for my children , they loved it and enjoy it,thank you

Wow I love these old radio shows, the older the better. A lot of people might think they are corny or bad acting because today folks wait for violence, blood, rape and killing women. perverted men. That was not what that era was about. These programs are perfect for their time, the dramatic music, the overacting because they are soap operas, the not good enough acting for most today. These are classics of a more innocent time. We will never read a criticism about these show in a bad light from people who come from this era and older or just appreciate the show

I discovered your, this site thanks to an English radio station here in Quebec Canada, city of Montreal. The radio station is CJAD. They stopped broadcasting the shows, but like I said, I found this site. Listen to it every night on my patio with a nice cup of tea. Thanks for this very entertaining show.

Great episode! I don't know what one of the previous goobers was thinking when he said the acting in this episode was atrocious! His opinion is atrocious, and stupid to boot! As for another previous comment about how far we've came in the past century in the treatment of old folks, yes, how far indeed! Downhill that is! In the past families stuck together and shared the burden of elderly care, but now, the family has gone to shit and we stick old folks in nursing homes that generally treat them like crap!

I loved this episode. I agree with the previous readers and listeners. I listened to these shows as a child and really enjoy hearing them again. I'm planning on listening to them every night. Thank you for putting this site together !!!!

Another on of Elspeth Eric's episodes about father-daughter/daddy issues, lol! A father pines for his youngest daughter who died long ago, while her older sibling feels jealous and abandoned. Her passion for getting him to give up his obsession for his late baby girl is more than just concern for his mental health. She just can't stand it that Daddy doesn't lover her as much, which is a theme Elspeth Eric loves to write about in many of her stories. It gets boring and repetitious, imo. The story regarding his healing abilities was okay and interesting enough as a plot, but the acting was horrible! One of the worst acted episodes ever because of the acting of the main players. (Bryna Raeburn and some of the supporting actors were okay.) Also, was any one else annoyed by the way they kept saying, "a very old man, just a very old man," over and over? Sorry for being so critical, but this episode is definitely not among my top ten faves. It was repetitive and hammy, imo.

I meant to say, "She just can't stand it that Daddy doesn't *love* her as much."

When I was studying at University in he early 1970's, I lived on sailboat in an anchorage, with no power, and only a radio for entertainment. each evening after rowing out to my humble home i woud make dinner, have a drop or two of wine and settle down in my bunk. i woud tune in the "Mystery Theatre" and listen as I drifted off to sleep. So many nights this program kept me company. Now some forty plus years later, i have found this website, and once again, at bedtime I stream an episode, and drift off to sleep almost hearing the water lapping against the hull of my little sloop, as i rocked slowly to sleep in the harbour.... thank you for making this available!

Interesting lifestyle. I bet others here would like to hear more. RMT on a boat on starry nights.... cool.

An interesting episode, no murder, but lots of mystery! An old man with miraculous healing power. Makes one think that the impossible is possible, and why not?

I rate this episode ★★★★☆ stars for GOOD. What’s amazing about this story, written by Elspeth Eric, is that it builds up a lot of mystery in every turn and you think there’s going to be a supernatural twist involving Stefan (the old man with healing hands), but it turns out it’s actually a Drama-Mystery balancing between mourning the dead and healing the living. The lacking relationship between the daughter and her father was an issue. Many of Elspeth Eric’s stories have that similarity where her characters don’t get along with others based on resentment or wariness. And this one is a good example. But on a plus side, the climax and resolution in the finale builds up the family relationship. In our Host’s Prologue, E.G. Marshall does his traditional lines (“…the sound of suspense, to the fear you can hear…”), but a brief introduction of 1 particular character. In ACT-1, the differences between young & old faces where they have wisdom. Later on, question about where do people go in this dark Earth? In ACT-2, our main character is loved, but no one couldn’t comprehend him. In ACT-3, the very old man meets the final character in the story. After the finale, our Host states that it doesn’t matter if we believe this story or not, but know that no one knows what transpires in the mind and heart of a very old man. In his Epilogue, E.G. Marshall defines the word “Murder.” Furthermore, he states that the people on CBSRMT don’t mind being killed, because everyone one of them is a “Deadhead.” That Epilogue doesn’t make sense because a “Deadhead” means a thoughtless, stupid, or dull person. Plus, there was no murder scene in this mystery tale. The rest of E.G. Marshall’s narrations were informative, but his Epilogue went off track. I will say that the music was exquisite for this story, especially adding tunes from THE TWILIGHT ZONE series. Sound effects of thunder, tableware clinking, dialing the rotary phone, doors, rain, footsteps on the stairs, pouring of coffee, birds chirping, horse hooves, horse neighing, the smack on the head (at the 30:27 mark), and the physical struggle were very helpful. And I will also say, “bravo” to our cast: Santos Ortega (as Otto Crouse), Norman Rose (as Dr. Manfred Gottlieb), Bryna Raeburn (as Bertha Gottlieb and Mrs. Holder), and William Redfield (as Stefan). Kudos to Santos Ortega & William Redfield for this was their very 1st episode to perform on CBSRMT. Bryna Raeburn was terrific in her 2 roles. Norman Rose has done many Elspeth Eric episodes (i.e. #0034-THE DEADLY HOUR and #0676-BOOMERANG) and this was one of his best. This episode was a decent mystery and everyone should check it out. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0)

Enjoyed the Bernard Herrmann "Where is Everybody" soundtrack to the story. He was quite the composer.

The episode “A Very Old Man” is one of the best radio mystery theaters I’ve heard in a long time. Written by Elspeth Eric, it is engaging, and uplifting. It involves a married couple (consisting of a physician married to the elderly man’s daughter), living with the aged farmer. The “very old man” appears to occasionally have supernatural powers in which he is able to see a disease and heal it in people much to the consternation of his son-in-law. I commend it to your attention. P.S. I find Elspeth Eric’s writings some of the more insightful episodes with in depth, psychological aspects. (Although she apparently is not everybody’s taste

God awful. The old man's daughter stays histrionic about everything and nothing. The daughter and her doctor husband believe and don't believe at the same time. And the doctor tries to strangle The Old Man for...helping people? And it just gets worse.

Once again I would like to thank whom ever is responsible for bringing back RMT as it brings such good memories of growing up in the 1970’s! I am able to share this with my wife who never heard these so she is enjoying them as well! I am a bedridden disabled Veteran and don’t make much money so my family and I really appreciate whom ever is making this possible! God Bless! Craig & Luzviminda Johnson Family

As a kid (I'm now 62) we used to take summer road trips and we drove at night because it was cooler. I remember my dad used to find CBS Mystery Theater and we'd listen as we drove. It was magical, and taught me how to use my imagination. I've done my best to inject old time radio into my kids lives when they were young so they to could have the magical memories these stories inspired. It's a shame we've lost this kind of entertainment. The superficial digital world we live in now leaves so much to be desired. Kids these days have been cheated by being sold on cell phones and video games that turn them into empty headed shells with the character of a turnip. Thank you for making these stories available. They've helped me cope in a world that has so much, but really offers little worthwhile content.