Retro Radio Podcast

Features George Arliss, and Caesar Romero. France in the early years of the 17th century, and the reign of Louie 13th is the setting for the drama. Facing civil war, enemies of the king refuses a petition to listen to Cardinal Richelieu, a political figure that the king sees as his friend. Can war be prevented? Will the Cardinal’s plan diffuse political tensions? Where religion and politics collide, which will win out? Using an age old ploy, a marriage might be arranged to blend political powers for a united front for the people. Get ready for a mix of romance, and power struggle. Will it result in a murder to gain the upperhand? Consult your history books to find out, or just listen in to the tangled drama. Will the nation be spared from war when the top powers collide?

Mary’s prank to get uncle Henry from bothering her so much about her probation has backfired. The town constable is back in Pine Ridge, and mad enough to bring up a new flurry of charges on the girl. The hope of Lum getting custody of her is looking bleak. Abner tries to think up extreme measures to keep a letter from uncle Henry from reaching the parole board. Arson would be a bad thing… right? Lum figures that using Cedric to intercept the anticipated letter would be more subtle. To add to the distraction, Lum wants to report a robbery. Will grandpap’s arrival be a risk to the plan, or a useful resource in making the phone call to uncle Henry? On a roll, grandpap wants to tip off the warehouse where the fake robbers were seen. Shouldn’t they have a right to know? How far will they take the prank. Will Cedric intercept the letter? This plan is going too well. Something has to gum up the works… you know it will.

As the title implies, Sherlock Holmes is on the case of a missing person. Does the theater owner have something to do with it? Is Holmes right to threaten him to keep him from sailing away? Clues are reviewed that expose blackmail, and the method of keeping the dancer under wraps. Easy stuff for a master detective like Sherlock Holmes.

As a military officer reports into his isolated, and far flung duty station, he learns of the locals, and some of their traditions and customs. A tribe of pottery makers are a wild and fearless bunch who raid the mild natives to collect the bones of the dead. The bones are used to make the pottery, and the belief is the souls of the dead then live on forever in the glaze of the pottery. When there’s not enough dead to meet the demand for the pottery production, live natives are taken to meet the quota. When the native girl that our officer is sweet on, comes up missing, he goes to investigate. The settlement commander is determined to use heavy handed tactics to enforce peace, especially if it proves true the barbaric band off potters are actually kidnapping living natives to harvest their bones. Yeah, just drop a nuke on them. That’ll teach them to not kill innocent natives. Our quick thinking officer swings a peaceful bargain with the tribal leader to set the living natives free. Even better, they promise never to do it again. All it’ll cost him is shipments of pure lime to meet all production demands, and the kicker is… the secret to making the rare, and yet unknown yellow glaze. Can the glaze be produced in such short notice? What chemical, or technology might the resourceful man think up to win the day? In the end, the commander is furious that his orders were disobeyed, it took so long to deal with the tribe, and his biolent methods were abandonned for peaceful ones. The nuclear meltdown of tempers has a twist ending that lets peace rule the day.

Marlowe gets a phone call to tell him one of his steady girlfriends has been shot. Headed to the funeral parlor to pay his respects, Philip questions friends and other suspicious people hanging around. He finds a clue in a glass statue of a donkey that’s missing a leg. Who is Mr Massey, and what connection does he have to the murder? Elements of blackmail, love affairs, and business troubles emerge. When Mrs Massey turns up dead, Marlow thinks he has some solid evidence to wrap up this mystery. Things are escalating as Philip beats the bushes, and his investigating progresses. Danger and gunplay are in store before Marlowe gets to the bottom of the matter, and the gory details are exposed.

Playlist: * Sam the Man Taylor, Pretzel. * The Flamingos, * Kiss from Your Lips. * Vow. * Chuck Berry, * Mabalene. * Roll Over Beethoven. * Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers, I * Promise to Remember. * Why Do Fools Fall in Love. * Sam the Man Taylor, Look Out.

On the way home, Vic and Russel discuss a few of the amazing feats of Russel’s friends. On arriving home they find Sade with a serious problem. The matter of a dented garbage can has her upset. There’s nothing like a little mystery for some hometown sleuthing to solve. Vic doesn’t seem to take the matter quite as seriously, but despite his manner of speach in his responce he takes a look at the clues. Sade points out likely suspects, while Vic suggests alibis that clear them. Russel does his part at playing detective as well. In the end a simple, and obvious solution to the riddle is pointed out by detective Vic. Who was the dastardly doer who dented the container? Listen for the list of clues to see if you have it figured out too.

Part Four of our Endless Summer Series: The big hits of 1959,

Robbery Detail. As the hunt for the final Gentleman Bandit, Frank Cheney, goes on, Joe takes care of some personal business and arranges a date with his police woman friend from a few months back. Still on the run, and laying low, Cheney has been tough to catch. Not a popular inmate, plenty of prisoners seem ready to work with the cops to bring him down. There are plenty of leads, and possible places where Cheney may be hanging out. Sailing, yacht clubs, and eye glasses all present points for the cops to be watchful. It’ll take some cautious questioning, so as to not tip any hand that the cops are zeroing in on their man. At home, we join Dorothy and Joe’s mom in a nice luncheon with Joe. Will the matchmaking go anywhere? The pleasantries come to an end when Cheney is back at committing robberies. The trail is fresh, and there’s no time to leave town. Will the millionaire family shield the errant son, or have the tip to help clench the case?

As Sade tries to make small talk with Vic, he tries out talking with a foreign accent. Sade claims that Vic is being transparent by his silly behavior, and suspects that he’s feeling guilty over a misdeed. Is she right? Has she put all his suspicious pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle to solve a mystery? Judging from Vic’s blushing face, his sitting on his feet, and his foreign accent, Sade describes the scene at the water cooler at work. She nails the situation of Lolita Diorenza suggesting that Vic would somehow be charming if he spoke in a foreign accent, among other flirtatious comments. Has Sade hit the nail on the head? From the sudden wet blanket that has fallen over Vics perky attitude, I’d say Sade can read her hubby like a book.

With the recent quarantine completely over, and fumigation done, the gents pop in to visit Mousey Gray at his new job. The mild mannered Mousey goes over the options in whipping up an ice cream soda. Mary joins them, but she is preoccupied in seeing the bread truck go by. She isn’t in love with the truck driver is she? The sodas are long in coming, and Mousey has to phone Ed Beckley for instructions. We find out that as the days draw near for the decision on whether Mary is sent back to the state home, uncle Henry has been forced to put in only good reports on her. Tensions mount on why exactly Mary is interested in the bread truck. Why isn’t she worried over uncle Henry any more? What arrangements has s she made with him? Will Mousey ever figure out how to make an ice cream soda? Mary slowly tells her story, and about stolen donuts. Her conspiracy with Kenny Pomeroy isn’t making sense to Lum. Why does she think she doesn’t have any more worries over uncle Henry?

Marching onto the scene, the Home Guard performs the manual of arms with military precision. Or as much of it as they can. Being briefed on the nuances between guarding the palace between war time and peace time, tactics are discussed regarding dropping hot, boiling water on the enemy… or was that hot, boiling oil… It was one of those old timey siege tactics to be sure. What’s to stop an infiltrator from disguising themselves as one of the royal personages? Strategies are discussed in case the palace is overwhelmed. Has everything been covered, so as to not make a shambles of the drill when the air raid sirens sound?

Eager for outside entertainment, Sade tries to talk Vic into going to see a movie. He’s picky about what he watches on the silver screen, and the one Sade wants to see is one filled with some of Vic’s most despised actors, actresses, and topics. Russel pops in to worry about changes to his hair style. Will he have any encouraging words about the film in question? His comments don’t help out Sade’s arguements at all. What makes the movie so bad? Russel gives a brief synopsis, but has he spoiled it for Sade? What might we learn about Russel’s changes in his appearance? It has to do with comments from Mildred Tisdale about his eyes flashing behind manly brows, and throbbing red blood in his noble head. Well? Does Vic go to the movie or not? Listen and find out.

A Navy Sea Bee and a patent attorney are paired together. Groucho asks about their personal lives, and a little about their professions. Groucho alludes to being supportive of the original Boston Tea party. Curiosities about the Navy uniform are answered, as well as various military maneuvers. To try for the big prize, the couple answers questions in the topic of, Famous US Generals. A produce clerk and a housewife go next. Max explains his occupation as he gets grilled by Groucho. What shopping tips might Paulette have when it comes to fruits and vegetables? They pick the topic of, Radio Masters of Ceremony. A school teacher, and an expectant father are teamed up. The new dad tells what kind of preparations he has made for the new arrival. What does the 3rd grade teacher have to say about early child development? With kidding aside, the couple chooses the topic, Nursery Rhymes. Who will go all the way for the big prize? Will somebody say the secret word? Spoilert: Somebody does.

Russel shares a few dramatic moments from his latest 3rd Lt Stanley book, as Vic ads his own commentary to the quality of the melodramatic fiction. Vic’s absurd come backs are in full swing, even as Sade enters with disturbing news about her friends and neighbors. The conbersation switches to examine the curiosity of Mr Donahue’s dread of vacations. It’s all related to his job on the night shift, and having his sleep cycle disturbed for his 2 week break from his job. Sade explains even more details that complicate the matter when family obligations enter the mix. It’s all enough to make Vic encourage Russel to keep reading from his book about the pulp fiction hero. Trivia: * Russell reads extensively from an unnamed 3rd Lieutenant Stanley book (more than two and half minutes of airtime.) Other than the mushy stuff with Lady Margaret, the 3rd Lieutenant has his hands full with two mountain lions, a lizard and head-hunting counterfeiters. His weapon arsenal is impressive: two automatic revolvers, a dagger, a pound of dynamite, a pile of poison, a length of stout twine, a sealed drum of deadly gas, a flask of acid, a basket of [unintelligible], a jar containing a black widow spider and a leather case full of straight-edged razors: (edited) * In the book, Lady Margaret has a solid gold, diamond-studded bottle of smelling salts. * Sade says Mr. Donahue hates leisure and prefers to be busy with his hands. * Mis’ Donahue’s parents live in Pontiac, Illinois. –Trivia provided by Jimbo, as found at