Episode 322: Milford Brooks III

[00:00:27] Speaker A: Welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:35] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:36] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:37] Speaker D: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:41] Speaker C: As we start the new year, we're checking out significant inaugural episodes to see how it all began for some of the most iconic series from the golden age. Today we're listening to Milford Brooks III, the very first episode of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Described as America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar narrated each episode in the form of an action packed expense account. Although many actors took on the role throughout the 13 years that the show ran, Dick Powell played the character only once, and that was for the audition that was recorded before any episodes were actually on the air. [00:01:19] Speaker D: By the time the series was ready to begin production, Powell left to take on one of many iconic roles he would become known for. Richard diamond, private eye. But thanks to this recording, we get a chance to imagine what the series might have sounded like if Powell had stuck around to provide the voice of the one and only Johnny Dollar. This is Milford Books III, recorded on December 7, 1948. [00:01:41] Speaker A: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:02:08] Speaker E: The Columbia Broadcasting System presents a thrilling new adventure series starring Dick Powell. [00:02:22] Speaker B: I'm an insurance investigator. My name is Johnny Dollar. [00:02:25] Speaker C: What? [00:02:26] Speaker B: You heard me. Johnny Dollar. And I can pad an expense account with the best of them. Yep, I'm a freelance insurance investigator and I live in Hartford, Connecticut. At least that's where I pay rent. My work sees to it that I really live anywhere except at home. I'm free white, 34 and so forth. If you're interested in buying me Christmas presents, I take a size 42 suit, shirts, 15 and a half collar, sleeve length, 33. My hat size is seven and an 8th. Except when I wind up a successful case, then it runs about seven and three eighths. At insurance investigation, I'm just an expert at making out my expense account. I'm an absolute genius. Expense account submitted by investigator Johnny Dollar to home office, east coast underwriters, terminal building, Hartford, Connecticut. Attention. Austin Farnsworth, general manager. The following is an accounting of my expenditures and the investigation of Milford Brooks III for your company expense account. Item one, cab fare to your office in answer to your original call. $0.75 tip to driver, $1. Expense account. Item two, shoe shine, $0.25. You'll remember I got my shoes scuffed when I unsuspectingly walked into your private office. [00:03:57] Speaker F: Milford, no. You must dollar away from that window, don't you. [00:04:03] Speaker B: You. [00:04:03] Speaker F: You. [00:04:04] Speaker B: No, you don't. [00:04:05] Speaker F: Let go of me. [00:04:06] Speaker G: Let go of me. [00:04:08] Speaker B: There are better ways of making a big splash in life. [00:04:10] Speaker F: Get away. [00:04:12] Speaker B: Well, nice try, Sonny. Now, pay attention to. Oh, I didn't know I had it in me. [00:04:22] Speaker F: Oh, goodness gracious. Ola. Did you have to hit him so hard? I hope we haven't killed him. He isn't too strong, you know. [00:04:28] Speaker B: Don't worry. There. Now, now, Mr. Farnsworth, would you mind telling me, on whose head have I the dubious pleasure to be sitting? [00:04:37] Speaker F: That, sir, is Milford Brooks III. His policy with this company is in the amount of $2 million. [00:04:42] Speaker B: Wow. [00:04:43] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:44] Speaker F: And the boy seems bent on committing suicide. Dollar, I want you to stop him. [00:04:48] Speaker B: What do you want me to do, threaten him with death? [00:04:50] Speaker F: Anything. The conditions of his policy are such. We would be forced to meet with a claim in the event of his suicide. Oh, I see. Dollar sitting on his head that way. Aren't you in danger of smothering the boys? [00:05:00] Speaker B: Smothering him doesn't worry me. But these crew haircuts don't make very comfortable cushions. I'll move down a little there. Okay. Okay. So far I know this kid is insured for 2 million and that his policy pays off on suicide. What else? [00:05:15] Speaker F: One half hour ago, Milford Brooks walked into this office and changed the beneficiary in his policy. Then, sir, he proceeded to demand, not request, mind you, but demand a loan of $500,000. [00:05:26] Speaker B: Quite a touch. [00:05:27] Speaker F: When I explained to him that there were no provisions for a loan in his policy, he threatened suicide, which would. [00:05:32] Speaker B: Cost you 2 million. So all we have to do is keep him alive. [00:05:35] Speaker F: And he's managed to make that no small problem. His choice of a new beneficiary is downright frightening. One of the most notorious gamblers in the east. His name is Hatcher, Harold Hatcher. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Ouch. [00:05:47] Speaker F: Oh, do you know him? [00:05:48] Speaker B: Sure. That kid's been a post office pin up boy for a lot of years. [00:05:52] Speaker F: Well, that's the situation. I'm engaging you to protect Milford Brooks'future dollar. I want you to protect the boy. Give him something to live for, you know, an interest in life. [00:06:03] Speaker B: An interest in life? Well, let's see. Oh, I know. Here, this should help. [00:06:11] Speaker F: What's that you got there? [00:06:12] Speaker B: It's what's commonly referred to in the more successful of bachelor circles as my little black book. Well, now, let's see. Ruby. No, her favorite expression is drop dead Bernardine. No, she'd be the new beneficiary by midnight. Oh, dear. Now, here. Here's the one. Butter. Say, Farnsworth, would you mind passing me that phone? The one with the long. Oh, no, I still. Buster, my little friend here is showing signs of life. [00:06:46] Speaker F: Here you are. Maybe you should let him breathe a bit more. [00:06:50] Speaker B: Don't worry. Don't worry. He'll be all right. Hello. Oh, hello. I want to call New York. Yeah, Hudson. $24292. [00:06:59] Speaker F: You're not thinking of taking this boy to New York, are you? [00:07:01] Speaker B: Well, I'm going there myself. You want me to keep an eye on him, don't you? Now, don't fret, Findsworth. All is not lost. [00:07:07] Speaker F: You do worry me, sitting on his chest that way. [00:07:09] Speaker B: Hello, Butter? This is Johnny. Yeah, I'll be in town tonight. I want to see you. Look, here's what I want you to. Yes, yes, it's all right to say over the telephone. I want you to reserve a table at the hatchery in my name for 10:00 tonight. Will you do that? Okay. I'll see you at your apartment in a few hours. But, honey, I can't make it any earlier. I'm sitting up on a sick friend. Okay. Goodbye. [00:07:37] Speaker F: I'm not sure that I agree with your methods. [00:07:40] Speaker B: Ow. [00:07:41] Speaker F: What's the matter? Did he hit you? [00:07:43] Speaker B: Hit me? He bit me. Expense account. Item three. Liquor, $18. Keeping Milford Brooks III peaceful seemed to be the immediate problem. And a bottle of rare old brandy seemed to be the immediate answer. I poured most of it into him, and by the time he started to tick again, he'd gone through the unusual process of going to sleep sober and waking up enchanted. I loaded him into my car and we headed for New York. As we passed through new Haven, he opened one eye, looked up, saw the Yale bowl and gave three cheers for old Eli. Old Yale would sure be proud of you. Why anybody would want to insure you for $2 million is more than I can figure. [00:08:35] Speaker F: My daddy loved me very much, and my mother loved me very much. [00:08:40] Speaker B: Now, that's nice. [00:08:41] Speaker F: And not only that, but I love somebody very much. And not only that, but I hate somebody very much. [00:08:50] Speaker B: That's interesting. [00:08:51] Speaker F: You know, something next to one other guy. I hate you more than anybody else. [00:08:59] Speaker B: Oh, here, lover boy. It's the cocktail hour again. Time for your bottle. Rolling along the Merritt Parkway, I felt very much alone with my thoughts. And believe me, they weren't very pleasant company, the way it stacked up for me. Brooks had built up a fat gambling debt with Harold Hatcher and had been forced into making him his beneficiary. The suicide threat that he was holding over the insurance company was a little tougher to figure, unless he was trying to finance a trip for himself to get away from the man with a murder motive. Hatcher. My hungry little mind nibbled away on those unsavory morsels of food for thought all the way to butter's apartment. [00:09:53] Speaker F: Hey, where you taking me? I want to go to New York. [00:09:57] Speaker B: If you don't behave, buster, I'll punch your tickets. [00:10:00] Speaker H: Johnny, darling, welcome to New York. [00:10:02] Speaker F: Well, that's the fastest trip I ever had. [00:10:04] Speaker B: Quiet. [00:10:05] Speaker H: Well, where did you find this? [00:10:06] Speaker B: In a box of cracker Jack. Let us in, dear. [00:10:08] Speaker H: I don't know about you. Some men bring me flowers, some bring me candy. What do you bring me? A boiled owl and a brooks brother's suit. [00:10:16] Speaker F: Pleased to reach you. [00:10:17] Speaker B: Let's trot him into the bedroom, honey. [00:10:19] Speaker H: He'd look more at home in the bathtub. I'll need to pull down the cup. [00:10:23] Speaker B: All right, come on, buster, lie down. Charm. [00:10:26] Speaker F: Charm. Charm. [00:10:31] Speaker B: That kid's liquor sure can hold him. [00:10:33] Speaker H: How long have you been playing nurse maid to this bottle, baby? [00:10:36] Speaker B: Get behind that bar, sweet, and I'll tell you all about it. [00:10:39] Speaker I: Sure. [00:10:39] Speaker H: Horrible examples don't seem to bother you, do they? [00:10:42] Speaker B: If you knew how that guy has been bothering me. [00:10:45] Speaker H: What did he do to you? [00:10:46] Speaker B: Well, let's just say he put the bite on me. Gosh, the river sure does look pretty tonight. Bourbon and soda now, please. Anything but brandy. I've been sniffing that second hand all the way from Hartford. Butter, see that big boat out there? I sure would like to be on it with you. Sailing off to faraway romantic places. [00:11:08] Speaker H: Get with it, darling. That's the 125th street ferry. Oh, here's your drink. Come on, now, tell Butter all about it. [00:11:17] Speaker B: So friend Bourbon and I proceeded to tell her all about it. It wasn't easy. Everything about her kept flagging down my train of thought. The longer she looked at me, the less I wanted of Milford Brooks III and the more I wanted of beautiful butter. I, and only she, was a sympathetic listener to my story until I gave her the answer to her first and only question. [00:11:42] Speaker H: And where do I fit into all this? [00:11:44] Speaker B: Baby, I thought you understood. My job is to give this poor, misguided boy something to live for. That's you, wealthy. Now, honey. Hold everything. Don't go getting your corn all popped. You misunderstand. I really mean it. I thought if he'd just got to look at you and realize that things like you exist, why, you'd make any man glad to be alive. Come on now, butter melt a little. I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You know that. [00:12:14] Speaker H: Did I hurt you? [00:12:16] Speaker B: Oh, no. I'm getting used to it. People have been taking pokes at me all day. [00:12:20] Speaker H: I'm sorry. [00:12:22] Speaker B: That's better. [00:12:24] Speaker H: You want some more bourbon? [00:12:27] Speaker B: I want some more. [00:12:28] Speaker C: You? [00:12:29] Speaker H: Well, help yourself. [00:12:52] Speaker B: Honey. It's getting late. Let's make this the last drink. [00:12:56] Speaker H: What time is it? [00:12:57] Speaker B: Oh, it's 20 to ten. My reservation at the hatchery is for ten. Here. [00:13:03] Speaker H: Thanks. [00:13:04] Speaker I: Cigarette? [00:13:06] Speaker H: Oh, empty some more out in the other room. I'll get him. [00:13:09] Speaker B: I'd love to get you on a slow boat to China. Johnny. Coming. [00:13:14] Speaker H: He's gone. [00:13:15] Speaker B: What? Well, he can't be, but he is. [00:13:17] Speaker H: The window's wide open. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Oh, the fire escape. What a smart guy I am. Trading three drinks of bourbon for $2 million on the hoof. Oh, that's the biggest bar check I ever picked up. [00:13:41] Speaker E: That's a big bar check for anyone to pick up. As a matter of fact, it's a bigger bar check than you've ever heard of anyone picking up before. And that should give you an idea of what to expect in the second act as you follow this new CBS series starring Dick Powell in the title role. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. [00:14:07] Speaker B: Well, nobody could say I wasn't working fast. I'd only been in town for an hour, and I'd already succeeded in losing Milford Brooks III. I spent another hour of his all too short life expectancy, unsuccessfully shaking down the neighborhood for him. And then feeling very much like a bloodhound that had flunked his sniffing exam. I went back to Butter's apartment. [00:14:34] Speaker H: No luck, Johnny. [00:14:35] Speaker B: Oh, sure. Plenty of luck. All bad. [00:14:37] Speaker H: Is there anything I can do to help? [00:14:39] Speaker B: A kiss for luck. [00:14:42] Speaker H: What are you going to do? [00:14:43] Speaker B: Nothing. Just a little phone call. [00:14:50] Speaker G: Police headquarters. [00:14:51] Speaker B: This is Johnny Dollar. Give me missing persons. [00:14:54] Speaker E: Any particular one? [00:14:55] Speaker B: Don't be a wise guy. Lieutenant Fisher. [00:14:58] Speaker E: Yes, sir, Lieutenant Fisher. [00:15:01] Speaker B: Fisher, this is Johnny Dollar. [00:15:03] Speaker E: Hello, dollar. Who'd you lose? [00:15:05] Speaker B: One man, my mind. And if I'm not careful, my professional reputation. The guy's name is Brooks. Milford III. Got anything on him? [00:15:12] Speaker E: Hold on. [00:15:13] Speaker B: All right. [00:15:15] Speaker H: Don't look at me like that. It wasn't all my fault. [00:15:18] Speaker E: Dollar. [00:15:19] Speaker B: Yeah? [00:15:20] Speaker E: We haven't found him yet, but we think we know where he is the Hudson river at 1115 tonight. His top coat, complete with identification was found taking a ride on the 121st street ferry. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Anything else? [00:15:34] Speaker E: Nothing much. A package of matches was found under the coat monogram. You don't happen to know anybody whose initials are hh, do you? [00:15:43] Speaker B: Hh? [00:15:44] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:15:44] Speaker B: There's always Horace Height. Thanks, Fisher. I'll check back with you later. [00:15:48] Speaker E: I'll be here. [00:15:50] Speaker B: Hh. Harold Hatcher. [00:15:54] Speaker H: What are you mumbling about? Bad news. [00:15:56] Speaker B: Looks like about $2 million worth. They found Milford's coat on the 125th street ferry. [00:16:03] Speaker H: You and your faraway romantic places. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Very funny. I'll see you later, honey. And maybe about eleven. Expense account. Item four. Nightclubs, $28. Harold Hatcher's hatchery was in a cellar under a hotel, but the prices were high enough to rate a penthouse. The club was draped in too much satin, its lady customers and too little. The decor was french provincial. The music was brazilian and the food was from Dixie. The drinks looked weak and the waiters looked strong. All in all, the joint was a sight for sore eyes. For making them sore. The only pretty thing in the place was a blonde. She came strolling up to my table, her hips unconsciously sending subtle little messages back to the rumba band. She opened her mouth, slid her tongue over her lower lip and let a few warm, soft words slide out. [00:17:07] Speaker I: Looking for someone? [00:17:09] Speaker B: You'll do until the real thing comes along. Sit down. [00:17:12] Speaker I: Thanks. I won't have a drink. [00:17:16] Speaker B: I didn't ask you. [00:17:18] Speaker I: My name is Janelle. [00:17:19] Speaker B: Janelle? Wow. It's a nice name. [00:17:22] Speaker I: I understand you were asking about Mr. Hatcher. [00:17:24] Speaker B: Well, I asked if he was in. The waiter said he wasn't. Do you know him? [00:17:28] Speaker I: More than somewhat. What do you want to see him about? [00:17:31] Speaker B: A mutual Brooks. [00:17:33] Speaker I: Uh huh. I know most of the quiet, closed boys around here. So you aren't a cop? You don't look like the type. That would be a society friend of the Brooks family. So what are you? [00:17:44] Speaker B: I'll ignore that. Is Hatcher around? [00:17:47] Speaker I: He might be. [00:17:48] Speaker B: Then come on. Where's his office? [00:17:49] Speaker I: The top of those stairs. [00:17:51] Speaker B: Can I expect any trouble getting in? [00:17:53] Speaker I: You won't have any trouble. [00:17:54] Speaker B: How do you know? [00:17:55] Speaker I: Because Harold sent me down here to look you over. Oh, I think you're all right. [00:18:02] Speaker B: So I've won myself the good housekeeping seal of, huh? [00:18:05] Speaker I: Keeping a house with you would meet with my approval. [00:18:09] Speaker B: I ran for my life. Had a slow walk up the stairs. When I located the door to Hatcher's office I knocked once and went in. [00:18:19] Speaker G: Come on. In. [00:18:20] Speaker B: Thanks. I'm Johnny Dollar. I was hired by east coast underwriters to protect the interest of a kid named Milford Brooks III. [00:18:27] Speaker G: What's that supposed to mean to me? [00:18:28] Speaker B: You know him, don't you? [00:18:29] Speaker G: Well, he isn't exactly one of my boozen buddies. [00:18:31] Speaker B: How much money does he owe you? [00:18:33] Speaker G: We've got him on the books for a few bob. Why? [00:18:35] Speaker B: They picked up his top coat tonight on the 125th street ferry. He wasn't in it. It might have been suicide. Or it might have been a knockover made to look like a suicide. What's your choice? [00:18:44] Speaker G: What do you get off asking me about my choice? [00:18:46] Speaker B: Wherever you between eleven and 1130 tonight. [00:18:48] Speaker G: What's it to you? [00:18:49] Speaker B: I thought you might like to rehearse some answers. The law be asking some questions real soon. [00:18:53] Speaker G: Now, I don't know why I should tell you, but I was driving around in my car getting some air. [00:18:58] Speaker B: Oh, now, you'll have to do better than that. They found one of your match folders under Brooke's coat. [00:19:03] Speaker G: You're out of your mind. Let me ask you. The kid owed me a couple of hundred thousand. You think I'm going around knocking off my own assets? [00:19:10] Speaker B: Hatcher, I don't know whether you're stupid or bright. [00:19:13] Speaker G: Don't worry about it. I know. [00:19:14] Speaker B: What about that insurance policy? [00:19:15] Speaker G: What insurance policy? [00:19:17] Speaker B: Now, look, Hatcher, we're big boys. We both know that changing a beneficiary in an insurance policy is a legal transaction. That means witnesses. That means it isn't secret. [00:19:26] Speaker G: What are you talking about? [00:19:27] Speaker B: But you and east coast underwriters and I all know that Brooks made you the beneficiary in his policy and that you stand to come into $2 million when they fish out his body. [00:19:36] Speaker G: I don't know anything about it. [00:19:37] Speaker B: Motives don't come much bigger. [00:19:39] Speaker G: I'm telling you, this is all news to me and you and nobody else is going to make me move off that story. [00:19:43] Speaker B: I feel the same about mine. It doesn't take a genius to know that Brooks didn't love your $2 million worth. There's only one logical reason for his making you the beneficiary. You forced him into it. Who'd believe anything else? [00:19:54] Speaker G: Who cares? They'd have to prove it. And, brother, that can't be done. Now, how would you. Yeah, okay, Rocky. Thanks for the news. Take the inspector into the bar and buy him a drink. I'll be right down. Dollar. Did you turn me here, huh? Yeah. [00:20:12] Speaker B: No, I didn't turn you in. I'm not a cop. Here, have a cigarette. [00:20:17] Speaker G: Thanks. Here's a light. Well, come on. Maybe they just want to sell me some tickets to the policeman's ball. [00:20:30] Speaker B: For a guy in a hot spot, Hatcher was certainly a cool customer. I followed him out of the office, down the stairs and back into the club. Janelle was sitting there, right where I'd left her. And I thought to myself, now there's a gal who should never sit down. She looks so pretty standing up. [00:20:47] Speaker G: Janelle, buy Mr. Dollar a drink. I have to go play 20 questions with some fellas in the bar. [00:20:52] Speaker I: Sure, baby, anything you say. Anything. [00:20:55] Speaker G: I'll see you. [00:20:55] Speaker B: Dollar. Yeah? [00:20:57] Speaker I: How'd you make odds? [00:20:58] Speaker B: Well, you can never tell about a guy like that. He's a smart boy, strong, silent type. [00:21:03] Speaker I: Wouldn't talk. A real close mouth act. About what? [00:21:07] Speaker B: Oh, just a little dude ad. $2 million life insurance policy. [00:21:10] Speaker I: Wait a minute. That young Brooks kid. [00:21:12] Speaker B: That's right. [00:21:13] Speaker I: I knew it. Tried to tell him he'd get into trouble, but he wouldn't listen to me. [00:21:16] Speaker B: Oh, you knew about it. I suppose you also know what was behind it. Sure. [00:21:21] Speaker I: Milford owed him some money. A lot of money. It's in writing. [00:21:24] Speaker B: What kind of writing? [00:21:25] Speaker I: The personal note that Brooks was going to get back if he made Harold beneficiary. [00:21:28] Speaker B: Where is this note? [00:21:30] Speaker I: I look like the kind of girl who'd put the finger on her boyfriend. [00:21:33] Speaker B: You look like the kind of girl who'd do anything if she wanted to. [00:21:37] Speaker I: Thanks. I'll give you a slight hint. It's in his office. You'll find it in the inside pocket of one of his suits in the wardrobe. What are you waiting for? I'll watch the bar. [00:21:47] Speaker B: Nothing, sweetheart. Nothing at all. Whatever her reasons, Mr. Harold Hatch's little female playmate was trying awful hard to send him up on a murder app. And I was going to try awful hard not to let her down. Back in Hatcher's office, I found myself alone in a room with a telephone. And being a guy who can never resist a free call, I unleashed the magic wonders of the at t. [00:22:21] Speaker H: This better be you, Johnny Dollar. [00:22:23] Speaker B: Quiet, butter. I've only got a few seconds. [00:22:25] Speaker H: It seems that's all you ever have for me. Now, if you look. [00:22:27] Speaker B: Angel. Angel. Just another hour. I'll get you a nice present. [00:22:30] Speaker H: I don't care if you're another century. And as for presents, the last one you brought me was a drunk. And you even let him get away from me. Good night. [00:22:40] Speaker B: Life presents a gloomy picture ever downward toward the tomb. Having wasted those few precious moments of an already misspent youth. I decided I'd better get on my pony before Mr. Hatcher showed up. I found Milford Brooks'personal note in one of Hatcher's suits, all right. As a matter of fact, I found something in all his suits. A great big glimmer of light. Expense account. Item five. Taxi fare, $10. I left the office in a hurry, Janelle at her table and Hatcher at his bar. I got out of the club and into a taxi parked a half block down the street. There I waited until my favorite suspect left the hatchery and piled into another cab. And off we went on a chase. It would have made Ben hurl look like a plowing bee. We skittered over to Lexington and headed uptown. At 72nd, the cab turned right and pulled to a stop. My driver was on his toes, and his toes were on his brake. We stopped, too, half a block behind. [00:23:48] Speaker E: You when I should wait. [00:23:49] Speaker B: No. Here you are. Keep the change. Hey. Dang. It was a garage that belonged to a residence on the parallel street a block away. The living quarters upstairs were dark enough to look interesting. I indulged in a bit of genteel breaking and entering. Entering that old barn didn't take much breaking. I crept up the stairs. It sounded like they were left over from an old ghost story. And so did the first voice I heard when I stopped halfway up. [00:24:25] Speaker F: We've got to be careful. Especially about that Johnny Dollar. Are you sure he didn't follow you? [00:24:31] Speaker B: That voice sounded awfully dry to be coming from a guy who supposedly had spent most of the night snoozing on the bottom of the Hudson river. It was Milford Brooks III. Get up on your feet, Brooks. [00:24:45] Speaker F: Well, now, wait a minute. [00:24:47] Speaker B: I started this thing slugging you, and I might as well finish it the same way. Now pull in the claws, angel, and sit on his lap. [00:24:57] Speaker H: Too hard for it. [00:24:58] Speaker B: I'll kill you. [00:24:59] Speaker F: Get off of me. I should have known better than to get mixed up with a low class female like you. [00:25:04] Speaker B: Why, you. Now hold it. We've pushed the lady around enough. Brooks. [00:25:08] Speaker F: Tell me to be careful, will you? Why didn't you think of that before you led him here? [00:25:11] Speaker I: Wipe your nose, little boy. [00:25:12] Speaker B: Now, don't you go getting fat headed, gorgeous. Neither one of you are exactly what I'd call masterminds when you planted that match folder on a little boy blue blood's top coat on the ferry boat. You both should have been more careful. [00:25:23] Speaker I: You think so? [00:25:23] Speaker B: You bet I think so. If I were planning a piece of evidence to incriminate Mr. Harold Hatcher. I would have left a cigarette lighter. I found one in the pocket of every suit he owns back there in his closet in the club. It wasn't hard to figure out that that guy never carries a book of matches. [00:25:38] Speaker F: What do you want? [00:25:40] Speaker B: I'm only interested in one thing. Saving the insurance company $2 million. And, buster, I think you've done it for me. [00:25:46] Speaker F: Dollar, I. [00:25:47] Speaker B: This is insurance fraud. It has been ever since you put on that fake suicide attempt trying to extort $500,000 out of the company. [00:25:54] Speaker F: Dollar, wait a minute. [00:25:55] Speaker B: Come on, we're leaving. [00:25:57] Speaker G: You heard him, dollar. [00:25:58] Speaker B: Harold Etcher. [00:25:59] Speaker G: He said, wait a minute. He wants to talk. [00:26:02] Speaker B: Yeah, everybody wants to get in on the act. How did you get here? [00:26:05] Speaker G: When the police in this town think maybe a guy's jumped off a ferry boat and nobody's seen him do it, they check the counters on the turnstiles at each end. In the case of Brooks, as many people got off, that boat has got on. [00:26:15] Speaker B: Well, that makes sense. They'd hardly hold the guy because somebody lost a top coat. [00:26:19] Speaker I: How did you know we were here? [00:26:21] Speaker G: You know me, baby. You never go anyplace I don't know about. Okay, Brooks, you felt like talking. Now I feel like listening. Get it up. [00:26:28] Speaker F: Well, I. I don't know what you mean. [00:26:30] Speaker B: I know what you mean, Hatcher. One, he gave you a big, fat $2 million motive for murder. And two, he did his best to make it look like you did murder him with that broken down match cover plant on the ferry boat. It's just that simple. [00:26:41] Speaker G: And you, baby. [00:26:43] Speaker I: Harold, please. [00:26:45] Speaker G: You put him up to it, didn't you? You cheap little muscler. Trying to get rid of me, will you? [00:26:48] Speaker B: No, Harold, calm down, Hatcher. You don't need any gun around here. They're tame. [00:26:52] Speaker G: Well, maybe I'm not since so many people have gone to so much trouble to hand me a nice, easy way to make $2 million. Maybe I'll just go ahead and make it. I'll show these amateurs how these things are really done. Come on, Brooks. Would you like to go for a nice, cool half a ferry boat ride? [00:27:08] Speaker F: No, Edger, no. Look, it's her fault. I'll give you anything you want. [00:27:12] Speaker G: You're wrong, sonny boy. You're going to give me everything. [00:27:15] Speaker F: No, you can't. Let me out of here. [00:27:18] Speaker B: Brooks bolted for the door. Hatcher snapped a shot at him, and I hit hatcher with a do or die tackle from behind. The gun flew out of his hand. No, you don't I beat him to it and swung it straight into his skull. Half the people in the room were lying there bleeding Brooks from gunshot, hatcher from Gunbutt. Janelle and I stood there panning, but believe me, not for each other. We stood that way until the police arrived. [00:28:05] Speaker F: It's beyond me. I sent you out to protect the life of a very important policyholder. And now where are we standing in a hospital corridor worrying about whether he's going to live or die. [00:28:14] Speaker B: As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Farnsworth, you're only half right. I'm just standing in a hospital corridor. [00:28:19] Speaker F: Oh, dollar, you're heartless. [00:28:20] Speaker B: Well, if you'd been bitten where he bit me, you wouldn't care if he lived or died either. I'm getting out of here. [00:28:26] Speaker E: Where are you going? [00:28:26] Speaker B: It'll be explained in my expense account under miscellaneous expense or don't fall over when you come to an item for $318. [00:28:33] Speaker F: $318? For what? [00:28:36] Speaker B: Not for what. Finesworth for whom. Expense account total. And that all adds up to a little matter of 1180, $2.23. Which you may say, Mr. Farnsworth, is a lot of money for one man to spend in two days. But you must bear in mind that the amount at stake was $2 million. And you know the price of steak these days. It might comfort you to know that I just returned from the hospital. Brooks was strong enough to make a full statement, which you will find and close. This in itself should prove sufficient to establish evidence of attempted fraud against your company, allowing you to immediately avoid his policy. It boils down to one sentence. To wit, Brooks and Janelle wanted to get rid of hatcher so that they could live happily ever after. Knowing those two, they never had a chance. And, oh, yes, that miscellaneous item, the one for $318. It was a bracelet for a certain party who made this special investigation for me. Very special. Oh, if you want a receipt for this item, I'll send you a lock of her hair. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. [00:30:17] Speaker E: So, with the final signature on his expense account, Dick Powell as Johnny Dollar has just closed the books on his first adventure in this new CBS series. The script for tonight's broadcast was written by Paul Dudley and Gil Dowd, and the music was created and conducted by Dick around. The entire production was under the direction of Tony Leader. Be sure to tune in again next week when the expense account covers special investigation, Singapore. Another unusual adventure starring Dick Powell in. [00:30:55] Speaker B: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. [00:31:08] Speaker E: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. [00:31:11] Speaker A: That was Milford Brooks III from yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Here on the mysterious old radio Listening Society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:31:20] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:31:20] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:31:22] Speaker A: That was the very first. Actually, not even the first. It was an audition. Audition run with Dick Powell playing the role of Johnny Dollar. [00:31:33] Speaker C: This answers the question maybe no one has ever asked, but what if Monty Masters wrote an episode of Johnny Dollar? That's what this reminded me of. Candy Matson. [00:31:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe by the end of this discussion, I will have a different opinion. But as it stands right now, boy, I just did not enjoy this at all. I didn't like anything about it, and there's a lot of reasons for it. So here we go. Let's find out why I'm wrong. You like it? [00:32:00] Speaker C: I love how you think there is right and wrong opinions. [00:32:03] Speaker A: There is. [00:32:03] Speaker C: How are you, Eric? You're so Minnesota. [00:32:06] Speaker A: By Norwegians. [00:32:08] Speaker C: Yeah, you are so Minnesota. You can have all of your opinion. [00:32:12] Speaker A: Wow. [00:32:13] Speaker C: And keep it. Okay, I did have that. [00:32:15] Speaker D: This isn't the real Johnny. No off brand Johnny Dollar. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Did it seem to you like Dick Powell had walked in 6 seconds before the taping of this and was reading the script? Because it seemed like inflection was. [00:32:29] Speaker D: Well, there was just blatant flubs. [00:32:32] Speaker C: He wrath boned it. Yeah, but I love Dick Powell. So phoned in. Dick Powell is just. I love him to death. [00:32:38] Speaker D: I think this was not intended for wide audience to listen to. This is for producers to. This is kind of what it's like. [00:32:45] Speaker A: His weird choice of yours truly. Like, what was that noise he made? [00:32:52] Speaker C: It was one of the best parts of the entire episode. I love how it makes fun of the concept of Johnny Dollar. That opening line in which they have canonized the response that every single human being has when they first hear the name of this show is what? An insurance agent named Johnny Dollar. [00:33:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:15] Speaker C: He's like, shut up. [00:33:16] Speaker A: Right? That's right. See, that's what it's going to be. [00:33:20] Speaker C: I laughed heartily at that, but I just thought it was quite like, this is the most Johnny Dollarish based on the title. Like, if you heard a radio show called yours truly, Johnny Dollar, this is exactly what you would think it is. [00:33:32] Speaker A: Yes, I do know that we're approximately the same size. He gave out his measurements and I was like, good, so we could have swapped clothes. [00:33:44] Speaker D: The only other thing in my reaction to this being other brand, giant Dollar is the sort of explicitly like, I am shaking these companies down for money. [00:33:55] Speaker C: Yeah, right from the top. He's just bragging about fraud. He's embezzling. [00:34:01] Speaker D: Like, I will save you millions of dollars. So I'm going to steal like thousands. [00:34:05] Speaker B: That's a good deal. [00:34:07] Speaker C: I looked up what in current currency, what his expensive count total was at the end, and today it would be. [00:34:15] Speaker A: $15,316.66, which means that the bracelet was $3,000. [00:34:23] Speaker D: But somehow you could get insurance. That includes paying out with a suicide. [00:34:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:34:29] Speaker D: Which that part is like, no, I looked it up. [00:34:32] Speaker C: Yeah, you can maybe could, as far as I know. And there may be insurance people who email us lawyers. But on my very brief Internet search was that there are policies that will cover suicide, but they have suicide clauses that are something akin to a waiting period for a gun. After two to three years, the policy will pay off on a suicide. So it's not as uncommon because that was my immediate reaction. They don't cover suicides. [00:35:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:35:07] Speaker C: And then I looked that up and I'm like, things are looking up for me. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Hey, honey, guess what? In three years, you're going to be rich. [00:35:16] Speaker C: So, yeah. Not as over the top as you would think. [00:35:21] Speaker D: Learn something new every day. Not useful information, but I learned something new. [00:35:26] Speaker C: I also just love that setup. Johnny, your job is to keep this guy from killing himself so we don't lose millions of dollars. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:35] Speaker D: That's the different tone of usually be like, hey, Johnny, you're not doing anything. This is like, ok, I'll just exist. And this Johnny's like, well, let me call up some ladies I know, right? [00:35:47] Speaker C: It's a completely different character, don't get me wrong, but it was enjoyable to go into this what if world. [00:35:54] Speaker D: Earth two. Johnny dollar. [00:35:55] Speaker A: It was. It was like Marvel's what if Johnny Dollar was a grotesque jiggle. [00:36:03] Speaker C: Johnny Dollar sits on a guy's face and gets his ass bit. [00:36:09] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:09] Speaker C: And it's a through line joke. It's not just a little throwaway joke. [00:36:14] Speaker A: He also has sex with. [00:36:18] Speaker D: Three drinks. He had three drinks with butter. Oh, that's sex. [00:36:25] Speaker C: This is why it reminded me so much of candy. Matson had this real risque, Envelope pushing double entendre and, I don't know, this may have never aired. [00:36:34] Speaker D: No, I don't think it did. [00:36:36] Speaker C: Yeah, it was only a circular recording. [00:36:37] Speaker D: Date, not a broadcast date. [00:36:39] Speaker C: So these were like really overt placeholder jokes. [00:36:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:45] Speaker C: Some jokes like this only jokes we can make on the air. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:49] Speaker D: Or it might be like, we're going to be really filthy. So when you come back and say, like, you got to tone this down a little bit, like, we can do the jokes we want to do. [00:36:55] Speaker C: Yes. [00:36:56] Speaker A: Did you hear the instruments they chose and the sound they make to what sex sounds like. Did you hear that? You got to go back and listen to it. [00:37:08] Speaker C: When it cuts away and it cuts. [00:37:09] Speaker A: Away, the music that's playing is like slide whistles and bed spring. It's weird. [00:37:18] Speaker C: I was wondering if it's supposed to be like, it cuts away to the water because they're talking about the ferry. I was wondering. [00:37:23] Speaker D: Camera pants to the curtains. [00:37:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Look out and just watch the ferry crossing. Back and forth, back and forth. Yeah. This just appealed to my love of dark comedy. Johnny Dollar starts by babysitting a suicide, because the story really doesn't kick into any sort of narrative gear until the drunk, suicidal gambler climbs out the window and disappears. [00:37:51] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:51] Speaker C: And then, be forbid, it becomes slightly more typical. Johnny Dollar. He investigates the case competently, quickly solves it. There's a clue. He figures out the matchbook that's supposed to frame William Conrad, who is fun to have show up in such a bit part. And then he finds the lighter. So I thought that was a decent clue. And they set a tone where I didn't expect anything of any reality to happen in this. [00:38:20] Speaker D: The tone is just so weird, ridiculous. At the top of like, this guy must be the best insurance investigator in the world to get away with this kind of nonsense. Of like, well, I'm going to take him to New York. Why? I want to go to New York. [00:38:35] Speaker C: I know a girl there. [00:38:38] Speaker D: Butter melts in your mouth. Wow. [00:38:44] Speaker C: Yeah. They weren't fooling around. This might be the most around risque old time radio show that I have heard. Dick Powell is the Roger Moore to Bob Bailey, Sean Connery in the Johnny Dollar pantheon of performers. But it is interesting that has no moral or emotional investment in this guy at all who wants to kill himself. And he's only interested in it in so much as it's an intellectual puzzle. And he doesn't want to be on the hook for the $2 million the company would lose. [00:39:23] Speaker D: And the sooner he can figure this out, the sooner he can get back to butter. [00:39:26] Speaker C: Yeah. And he might be able to skim a little off the top to buy or something. [00:39:31] Speaker A: Then it's cream. [00:39:34] Speaker C: A couple episodes ago, we talked about a scuffle in the Agnes Moorhead old. The old ones are hard to kill. The old ones die slowly. That was the name of. Right. [00:39:49] Speaker D: Throw Agnes Moorhead down the stairs. [00:39:50] Speaker C: Oh, yes. [00:39:51] Speaker A: It was cocoon. [00:39:52] Speaker C: Yeah. For all its goofiness, the physical scuffle over the gun at the end is great. Really well done. [00:40:02] Speaker A: I love it. And then the hit to the head was great. [00:40:05] Speaker C: You just see it all. [00:40:06] Speaker D: Half of us are bleeding. [00:40:08] Speaker A: Right? No, I like that. [00:40:12] Speaker C: Am I the only one finding some of the dialogue funny? Is it because of your idea of Johnny Dollar or the humor? [00:40:19] Speaker B: No. [00:40:19] Speaker C: How is this different from a candy Matson episode? That's absurd and self referential and risque. [00:40:26] Speaker A: You're going to hate what I'm about to say when I hear the risque coming out of a woman's mouth. It's fun and lighthearted. And when I hear it out of a man's mouth, it sounds creepy and gross. That's why he came off lecherous to me. You looked at me with that like, I know, right? That's awesome. [00:40:46] Speaker C: That is not in real life. [00:40:48] Speaker A: This character of Johnny Dollar, this portrayal of it, the dialogue, how it was done. He didn't come off as someone I felt like I could trust or a good guy. He just came off as kind of a gross, slimy, jerk face. [00:41:03] Speaker C: Candy Matson. She's not the only one saying risque things. [00:41:06] Speaker A: No, she's not. [00:41:07] Speaker C: She's not even the one saying the risque things. It's the guys around her saying, I don't know. [00:41:13] Speaker A: I don't know. Because it did. I don't know. [00:41:15] Speaker D: It's fun and creepy. [00:41:18] Speaker C: I agree with you. But because it's so absurd, I never at once was reminded of a real person, which I think would be more disturbing to me. But I get it. If you associated with someone in real life, someone coming up to you and behaving this way, you would not be a laugh riot. I agree with you. [00:41:35] Speaker D: I was going to say it took me a while to start rooting for him. [00:41:38] Speaker C: I never rooted for him. I just laughed, Adam, all the time. [00:41:43] Speaker D: But to be invested in what he's doing of like, I want him to solve this case. [00:41:50] Speaker C: I happy. [00:41:51] Speaker D: If he gets together with his girlfriend, great. But that's not really the story we're getting came here for, right? [00:41:58] Speaker C: No. This is not a template for a successful series. I'm not making that argument. I'm just saying I had a fun time and it made me laugh. That is all. Whose head do I have the dubious pleasure to be sitting on? Possible t shirt. [00:42:15] Speaker D: I was curious, what hairstyle does this guy have that it was uncomfortable to sit on specifically because of the hairstyle? [00:42:23] Speaker A: But he said buzz cut. [00:42:24] Speaker C: He says a crew. [00:42:25] Speaker A: The crew cut. [00:42:26] Speaker B: Crew cut. [00:42:27] Speaker D: I thought it was like a bunch of gel. [00:42:31] Speaker A: It's like needles. Tiny little needles in his butt. [00:42:34] Speaker D: I could sit on a buzz cut. [00:42:37] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. [00:42:37] Speaker C: Let's start the buzz cut challenge. Excellent. [00:42:41] Speaker A: Especially with pants on. Unless I hadn't considered that his pants might be off. And therefore the uncomfortability. [00:42:52] Speaker C: A boiled owl in a Brooks brother's suit. Another great line. That kid's liquor sure can hold him. Yeah, pretty good one. [00:43:00] Speaker D: I get it in concept, the idea that he passed out sober and woke up drunk. Did they pour liquor into him while he was asleep? [00:43:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:11] Speaker A: I didn't catch quite how he got him drunk while he was sleeping. I didn't catch that whole part. And then I quickly overthinking. [00:43:19] Speaker C: I think the suggestion was he just poured liquor down his gullet while he was unconscious. So what happens here is Johnny Dollar tears a suicide from the window. He's about to jump in, punches him, sits on his face, then pours booze down his throat, drags him to his girlfriend's house, locks him in a bedroom while he puts the move. [00:43:40] Speaker D: And then, unexplainedly, the guy runs away. [00:43:44] Speaker A: Why he woke up, he has no idea where he is. He has no idea how he got so drunk. Right. And he goes, I'm running out this fire. [00:43:54] Speaker D: That was another good line, though. [00:43:55] Speaker A: When did you try that? [00:43:55] Speaker E: I want to go to New York. [00:43:56] Speaker C: We're in New York. [00:43:57] Speaker D: That's the fastest trial. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:00] Speaker C: My head cannon for this is that this is a hardened gambler, this Milford Brooks III, and that he was playing as drunk as he was. He can hold his liquor. And as soon as the door closed, he climbed down. Because he were as drunk as he were playing, he'd fall off that fire escape. [00:44:17] Speaker A: But we don't know how long sex took. He might have been sobered up by the time. Right. [00:44:24] Speaker D: So, like, ten minutes. I know. Who does this reflect poorly on? [00:44:34] Speaker C: Take that, Dick Powell. [00:44:37] Speaker D: I'm an alcoholic. [00:44:39] Speaker C: No, you're just a fast drinker. [00:44:42] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:44:43] Speaker C: You just have other things to get. [00:44:44] Speaker D: To, like passing out. [00:44:48] Speaker A: Come on, alcohol. Do your thing. Let's go. Let's go. [00:44:52] Speaker C: Okay, so in case listeners are curious about it or want some fascinating background on a racist catchphrase, as you'll recall at the top of this, when Johnny Dollar is describing aspects of himself, including the fact that he's as tall as Eric. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:10] Speaker C: He says, I'm free, white and 34, which was a riff on this expression, I'm free, white and 21. And I went down this entire rabbit hole on this expression because it seemed like it was an expression. And so the joke itself was that he's not young. [00:45:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:27] Speaker C: It was an age joke embedded in an old racist catchphrase that was mostly not used by 1948, but its origins were back to, like, the 18 hundreds, 1823, after property ownership was removed as a prerequisite for voting. So it really should have been I'm free, white, male and 21. But they just took that for granted. But in a bizarre twist, it became this weird proto white feminist statement in 1930s and some 40s films. But then, ironically, it was often said by a wild woman in a film who was always punished by the end for breaking norms and then her life would crash and burn. And it generally faded from use during World War II, when the US was trying to find some brand differentiation with Germany, tried to tamp down on some of the racism briefly. And so it faded. And so this was just a throwaway joke on that, still racist. It was more making fun of Johnny Dollar not being a 21 year old woman. [00:46:41] Speaker D: So 34 was, though, that was old. Oh, man. [00:46:46] Speaker C: Older than 21. Let's just say that. And Joseph Kearns was in it as well. Another classic radio. He was the angel parrot. Boss, you didn't recognize Mr. Wilson? [00:46:57] Speaker B: No. [00:46:57] Speaker C: He could have been yelling at Dennis as much as Johnny Dollar. [00:47:01] Speaker A: I didn't recognize William Conrad was in this. [00:47:03] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:47:04] Speaker C: You didn't listen to this, did I? [00:47:07] Speaker A: Did I just. I don't catch voices as quickly as you guys do. I got to be told. [00:47:11] Speaker C: Well, should we vote? [00:47:12] Speaker A: Yeah. I hated it. I don't think it stands the test of time, and I don't like it much. And I think Johnny Dollar got much better. And I love Dick Powell, but I'm glad he didn't get this role. [00:47:26] Speaker G: You know what I mean? [00:47:27] Speaker A: Him as Richard diamond. That was kismet, man. All of that worked out exactly how he was supposed to work out. [00:47:34] Speaker C: They might have written Richard diamond after hearing him perform this. [00:47:37] Speaker A: Right? [00:47:38] Speaker C: Yeah, you might be right, because he even sings a little bit of slow boat to China in. [00:47:43] Speaker A: Yes, he does. [00:47:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:44] Speaker D: I was actually wondering, does he know Richard diamond as a possibility? Like, I'm going to sing something in here, script or no. [00:47:51] Speaker A: Fascinating and of historical value. [00:47:54] Speaker D: I'm going to be kind of similar to last week of this is a really good episode of some other show that I don't know. I would not call it a classic, that I'm glad that Johnny Dollar became something different than what this is, but I'm glad to have heard this. This more than last week's escape. That was a little cognitive dissonance of like, it's kind of like Johnny Dollar, but it's not right. And the alignment on my listening car kept kind of sliding in one direction that I had to just. [00:48:21] Speaker B: It's. [00:48:21] Speaker D: That's not where it actually is. Just listen to what it actually is. [00:48:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:25] Speaker D: But certainly historically fascinating. So much to be unpacked out of just its existence, being able to hear it because I don't know that it was intended for us to hear. [00:48:33] Speaker C: No, what I find really interesting is that it almost feels like it was an experiment in structure. It is so clearly 15 minutes of comedy and then 15 minutes of mystery. If that was really something, they were pitching as well. What about a show that has it all, but weirdly, instead of spreading it all the way through, it's like segregated into these two different portions. It was very strange. And I think part of the reason I enjoyed this so much is because it is so not Johnny Dollar. Whereas last week, escape was kind of the escape I know and love, but not really. Whereas this is like, this is just some crazy other thing. And I always love something that embraces this level of absurdism. And I love Dick Powell phoning it in. Even that I love. That's part of what makes him cool is how nonchalant he is. The difference between him trying and not trying is not a lot because that's his Persona, and he's an amazing actor. You've seen him in hard boiled stuff, murder, my sweet. He's the best screen Philip Marlowe in my opinion. So he can do more than this. But I love it when he just does this. [00:49:48] Speaker A: Everything you just said about him, you could have substituted the name Dean Martin. [00:49:53] Speaker C: Yeah, you just described Proto Dean Martin in many ways. [00:49:57] Speaker A: But even when he's not trying, he's pretty damn good. And if he did well, he's actually a really good actor. But he never tried because he was. [00:50:04] Speaker C: Part of the curse. Because he's pretty good when he doesn't. [00:50:07] Speaker F: Right? [00:50:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:50:09] Speaker C: Pretty good is enough, Tim. [00:50:11] Speaker A: Tell him stuff. [00:50:12] Speaker D: Please go visit ghoulishtolites.com. There's a home of this podcast. You'll find other kinds of cool things there. Hip now. [00:50:19] Speaker C: The kids love it. [00:50:20] Speaker D: You can vote in polls. Let us know what you think of these episodes. You can leave comments, you can send us messages. You can link to our social media pages, and you can find out about our Patreon page. [00:50:33] Speaker B: Yes. [00:50:34] Speaker C: Go to patreon.com slash them. Support this podcast. Become a member of the mysterious old Radio Listening Society. There are so many perks at so many levels, dizzying levels. You can become a patron and listen to podcasts. You can join us for Zoom happy hours where we all hang out and you guessed it, talk about old time radio. You get to join our discord server. If you are a patron at a certain level, you can make recommendations to this podcast and we'll listen to those recommendations. You can also see all of the videos of our crew cut sitting on challenge we're going to start. That will also be on patreon.com. Themorals. [00:51:21] Speaker B: No, we're not. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Hey, the mysterious old radio Listening society isn't just a podcast. It's also a theater company that performs live on stage recreations of classic old time radio audio theater, and also a lot of our own original work. You can find out where we're performing and what we're performing and how to get tickets by going to ghoulishtelights.com. Check it out every month. Come see us. And if you can't, if you're a Patreon, well, you get to see it anyway because we film them and that's part of your perks. We post that up on the Patreon page for you to watch what's coming up next. [00:51:59] Speaker C: Next, we are going to be listening to a recommendation from one of our patrons, Tim. Good Tim. Who gives us money. Not you, Tim. You just take money. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Evil Tim. [00:52:11] Speaker C: We'll be listening to Gerald from nightfall. Until then. [00:52:17] Speaker H: You want some more? [00:52:19] Speaker B: Uh uh. I want some more. You? [00:52:22] Speaker H: Well, help yourself.