Episode 363: Iron Curtain Express

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening System Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:36] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:37] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] 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. [00:00:43] Speaker A: For this week, I've chosen Iron Curtain Express from the Chase. The Chase debuted in April of 1952 and continued to broadcast Sunday afternoons on NBC for a total of 55 episodes. Fortunately for fans of the show, almost all of these episodes have survived. [00:01:03] Speaker C: As the title suggests, the Chase focused on stories of pursuit, pitting the hunter against the hunted in a desperate struggle for survival. Veteran radio announcer Fred Collins provided the show's distinctive opening, inviting listeners to enter the Chase. A few years later, Collins gave voice to radio's most famous countdown on X minus 1. [00:01:26] Speaker D: The chase was created by radio writer Lawrence Klee. In the early 40s, Klee wrote for the popular soap opera Hearts in Harmony and later for Chaplin Jim, a wartime production designed to boost troop morale. Later in the war, Klee donated his time and talents to Victims, Victory Players of the American Theater Wing, an organization of professional writers and actors who created patriotic material for the war effort. [00:01:48] Speaker A: After the war, Clee created his first original series for radio, the Clock, followed by stints as a writer on the fat man and Mr. Keen tree racer of Lost Persons, before creating another successful series, Man Against Crime. [00:02:04] Speaker C: Both the Clock and Man Against Crime were adapted for brief runs on television, and in early 1953, NBC began production on a television version of the Chase as well. It was planned to star Doug Fowley, who later found television success playing Doc Holliday in the Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. But for reasons lost to time, NBC abandoned work on the TV series and at the same time canceled the radio version. [00:02:31] Speaker A: So let's listen to Iron Curtain Express from the chase, originally broadcast Oct. 26, 1952. [00:02:40] Speaker D: 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 the listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:03:06] Speaker E: The National Broadcasting Company invites you by transcription to join the Chase. There's always the hunter and the hunted. [00:03:15] Speaker B: The pursuer and the pursued. It may be the voice of authority or a race with death and destruction. [00:03:21] Speaker E: The most relentless of the hundreds. [00:03:27] Speaker B: There are times when laughter is heard as counterpoint and moments when sheer terror. [00:03:31] Speaker E: Is the theme. [00:03:42] Speaker F: But always There is the chase. [00:03:58] Speaker B: Let me brief you first before I spin the yarn. You'll say I'm a liar in 16 different languages, unless you're familiar with the dossier. The name is Decker. Larry Decker. You may have seen it on a couple of books. Red Tide was one of them. It gave me the distinction of being Persona non grata in the Soviet Union as an accredited foreign correspondent. I was transferred from Moscow to the Paris office of the New York paper I was working for. And while I sunned my torso at a bull meish cafe table, I wrote a couple of pot boilers and waited for another assignment. Larry. [00:04:36] Speaker F: Come on. [00:04:37] Speaker G: Savant. [00:04:37] Speaker B: Ah, tribe, mon ami. Tres bien. Sit down, have a beer. [00:04:40] Speaker F: Paul, I hear you'll be on the move again. [00:04:43] Speaker B: Oh, says who? [00:04:44] Speaker F: McCall's assigning you to another spot. He mentioned it to me at the office this morning. [00:04:48] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't check in this a.m. i better call him. You don't think it's an eastern spot? [00:04:54] Speaker F: Oh, the office wouldn't ship you behind the curtain. Not after that blast you got from the commies. I think he's slated for Nuremberg. [00:05:01] Speaker B: Good enough. [00:05:02] Speaker F: Tired of Paris? [00:05:03] Speaker B: I'm tired of doing nothing the easy way. Maybe. [00:05:06] Speaker F: Here's one reporter who'd stay here forever if they let him. Paris. Les femmes, les champagne. Rugged is the word for it. Larry. [00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah? [00:05:18] Speaker F: See that dark guy over there? Just sitting down. [00:05:21] Speaker B: What about him? That's Russlav the Russian. [00:05:25] Speaker F: Boris Mechanov's chief cook and bottle washer. He's no gpu Matt. A post graduate student. They say he'd crown his own grandmother with a bottle of vodka if she didn't join the party. [00:05:35] Speaker B: Is Mac enough in town? [00:05:36] Speaker F: Paul came here yesterday with a delegation for the international conference. [00:05:40] Speaker B: It's a pretty big cookie behind the Iron Curtain. [00:05:42] Speaker F: First time he's even been west. They say he's sailed for one of the biggest chairs in Poland. Commissar of Communications and double talk. Or something like that. He's making a speech today at the Palais. [00:05:53] Speaker B: Going to dish out the same tired old gravy, I suppose. Larry. [00:05:57] Speaker F: Who do they think they're kidding? [00:05:59] Speaker B: Or themselves, maybe. [00:06:01] Speaker F: When they stink up the airwaves, do they really think anyone believes it? [00:06:05] Speaker B: You're one of the enlightened in their domain. You better believe it or else. What time does he make this speech? [00:06:13] Speaker F: Around 4 this afternoon, I think. [00:06:15] Speaker B: I'll run over to the Palais and listen. It's always good for a laugh. [00:06:18] Speaker F: He's. He's looking our way. Raslaw may have overheard us. [00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah. So he's in Paris now, not Minsk. You can open your mouth here. [00:06:26] Speaker F: Well, I'd better get. I got a date at 3. May see you at the Palais later. [00:06:30] Speaker B: I'll be there, sweetie pie, enjoying the yaks. But it wasn't funny. Their speeches may sound funny, but they're sad, friend. And as I listened to Mechanoff's Varsity Dragged, I got the feeling I always get this was where I came in. [00:06:50] Speaker E: The peoples of the Soviet Union and their friends and allies want only peace. That is their greatest ambition. [00:07:00] Speaker B: Like in Korea. [00:07:01] Speaker E: We and we alone know the meaning of freedom, which we practice religiously. [00:07:06] Speaker B: In a pig's eye. [00:07:07] Speaker E: Which is in the west, where you will find slavery. Slavery to capitalism, slavery to bourgeois decadent. [00:07:16] Speaker G: Ip Slavery to Muslim. [00:07:23] Speaker B: And so it went on and on and on, like a broken record. Words came out with the sameness of beer cans on a production line. They sounded just as hollow. Meckanoff had been a college professor before the Kremlin yanked him upstairs. Surely he must have some intelligence. Would it be possible that he believed those worn out gag routines? Well, I was still debating this question with myself when Paul Courtney saw me off at one of the railway stations in Paris. I was on my way to Nuremberg, Germany. [00:07:55] Speaker F: Well, don't work too much, Larry. [00:07:57] Speaker B: I'll try hard not to. [00:07:58] Speaker F: How's your German? [00:07:59] Speaker B: It needs a little sauerbrau from the pilsner, but I'll get by. [00:08:03] Speaker F: Drop me a line. I. [00:08:05] Speaker B: Hey, what's up? [00:08:07] Speaker F: Look who you're getting as a traveling companion. [00:08:09] Speaker B: Who? [00:08:10] Speaker F: Isn't that Meckanov and his entourage over there just boarding the train? [00:08:15] Speaker B: Well, I'll be sure they'll be in my car. [00:08:19] Speaker F: He's probably on his way to Czechoslovakia by way of Nuremberg. [00:08:22] Speaker B: He's got a mob with him. [00:08:24] Speaker F: There's Raslav and a bodyguard. They'll probably lock themselves inside a compartment until they hit the Soviet zone. [00:08:30] Speaker B: You know, I'd like to talk to him. [00:08:33] Speaker F: Mechanoth. [00:08:34] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:35] Speaker F: What do you talk about? The weather. It's about all you'll have in common. [00:08:38] Speaker B: I'd like to ask him if he really means those speeches he makes. If any of the big shots mean them. I'd like to get an off the record version. [00:08:46] Speaker F: Oh, you've got a fat chance. [00:08:48] Speaker B: So I can try. [00:08:50] Speaker F: Larry, you're joking. [00:08:52] Speaker B: Joking? Don't be silly. He's supposed to be an intelligent man, in spite of those lying platitudes he keeps throwing around. Maybe I can goad him into admitting it's all malarkey. [00:09:02] Speaker F: Listen, Larry. [00:09:03] Speaker B: Oh, I gotta run, Larry. That's a dangerous crew. [00:09:06] Speaker F: Be careful, Larry. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Be careful. Paul didn't have to warn me. I knew the score, or so I thought. But if I had really had the faintest notion of what I was getting into, I might have thought twice before sticking out my one and only neck. My wagon leet bedroom compartment was only two removed from the special section that had been set aside for Mekhanov and his crew. And I knew I didn't have a chance of even getting in to see him until he was alone. So I opened my bedroom door and waited for five solid hours. There were four of them besides the boss, and three of them left before midnight and moseyed into their own compartments to get some sleep. Only Raslov was with him now. And just as I started to get a little sleepy, I heard the compartment door open once again. And I peered out. And it was Rasloff, all right. He was moving toward the end of the train with his back toward me as he left the car. Going to the diner, maybe for a good night snack, I walked up to Mechanoff's section, hesitated, then raised my hand and knocked. Mr. Mecanov. Look. My Russian is kind of creaky. You speak English, don't you? [00:10:38] Speaker E: Who are you? [00:10:39] Speaker B: Decker is my name. [00:10:41] Speaker E: What do you want? [00:10:42] Speaker B: I just dropped in to ask you a simple question. Well, that speech you made in Paris the other day, Mr. Mackinaw. Do you or do you not believe that it was true? I want an off the record answer, if you've got the courage. I'll admit the approach was as subtle as a kick in the teeth, but I'd gauged it that way. I thought I might startle him into a slip of the tongue. But no such thing happened. He just stared at me. At me and through me. It was then I began to notice the sickly green pallor that was rising in his jowly face. Mr. Mecanoff, did you hear my question? [00:11:27] Speaker E: Yes, I hear the question. I will answer it. Sit down. [00:11:33] Speaker B: Are you feeling all right? [00:11:35] Speaker E: In a very few moments, my impetuous friend, it will not matter. One you ask me a question, here is my answer. The speech was a lie from beginning to end. [00:11:48] Speaker B: I may as well tell you, Mr. Meckanoff, that I'm going to quote you. [00:11:51] Speaker E: Quote me? You can do better. I have a signed statement here. Perhaps if I give it to you, it may see the light of day. [00:12:02] Speaker B: I don't understand. [00:12:03] Speaker E: Never have we believed what we said. We are not, my friend. Our words are for this stupid little man who is not allowed to think for himself. [00:12:11] Speaker B: You sound like a guy who's just discovered he's got a conscience. [00:12:14] Speaker E: And you sound like a schoolboy, not a correspondent. You think I'm telling you all this because I love your west any more than I love my own country? I would have gone on if they let me. But when one is a thief, he should learn he cannot trust other thieves. [00:12:31] Speaker B: Then you had a falling out with the Kremlin yesterday. [00:12:35] Speaker E: They executed my wife in Moscow. Eugenie. My wonderful Eugenie. [00:12:44] Speaker B: For what? [00:12:45] Speaker E: For what, I ask you? Was she a traitor? [00:12:48] Speaker B: No. [00:12:49] Speaker E: Did she follow the common form policies? Yes. Then why did she have to die? Why? I'll tell you why. She dared think for herself for one brief moment. Yes, my friend, 30 years of glory mean nothing. If you deviate for one brief moment. [00:13:08] Speaker B: What'Ll happen to you when you get back? [00:13:11] Speaker E: When I get back? You think I am mad enough to return? But this train will only arrive with my body, my friend, only. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Body. [00:13:37] Speaker B: He toppled over from his seat and lay still. Slowly his hand opened and a small vial rolled out of his fingers. He must have taken the poison before I came in. And it was obvious that Mr. Meckanoff had just turned in his Party card. But for good. I slipped the paper he'd handed me into my pocket, then opened the compartment door. My luck was still with me because the corridor was empty. I darted back toward the rear of the car to the safety of my own room. I opened the paper and I read it carefully. It was written in Russian I could still get the gist of. Was an admission to the world and an accusation, pure and simple and coming from one of the topmost figures in the Communist Party. When it was published, it would hold up the hypocrisy of the Party line for the whole world. Ridicule. And suddenly I remembered I left my hat in Mechanoff's compartment. Oh, excuse me. [00:14:56] Speaker G: What do you want? [00:14:58] Speaker B: I. I must have the wrong compartment. Oh, well, I. I mean. [00:15:03] Speaker G: What are you looking for? [00:15:06] Speaker B: Nothing. Sorry. Good night. It was only 10 minutes since I'd left Mechanov's body. But it was gone when I stuck my head back inside. Only Raslov was there, turning my hat around slowly in his hands. The hat with my initials on the sweat man. I returned to my compartment, locked the door and sat down to think. Now, there was still a chance that they wouldn't connect me with the guy who owned the hat. But that chance was a slim one. One thing was certain. They didn't want to know that Meckanov had committed suicide. That's why they hid his body so fast. And if they found out I had his signed statement, my life wouldn't be worth two rubles. I had to get off that train while it was still in Western territory. Or be carried off seat first. Who is it? [00:16:18] Speaker E: Monsieur? [00:16:19] Speaker B: When is the next stop? [00:16:21] Speaker E: The next stop, monsieur. Five minutes. [00:16:23] Speaker B: All right, now listen. A man has just killed himself aboard this train. Monsieur Mekhinov, the Russian diplomat. He's committed suicide. [00:16:29] Speaker G: This man is a troublemaker. He is a reporter trying to get an interview with Mr. Mechanov. You were told, were you not, that our party was to have complete privacy aboard this train. When we asked for diplomatic protection against pests, we included Americans. [00:16:47] Speaker E: Pardon, monsieur. Monsieur. You are a reporter, as Monsieur says. [00:16:51] Speaker B: Yes, I am. [00:16:53] Speaker E: You will please be very careful to mind your own affairs. M. Me and his party have diplomatic protection. I have been. [00:16:59] Speaker B: All right, all right, keep your shirt on. [00:17:00] Speaker G: You may go. Conductor, I will give this rash young man an interview and satisfy his curiosity. [00:17:10] Speaker B: Well, your boys are fast on the upbeat. [00:17:12] Speaker G: This is your hat, I presume. [00:17:16] Speaker B: I suppose we may as well take our hair down. We seem to be pretty familiar with. With each other. Now, obviously, what you do with the body? [00:17:22] Speaker G: What body? [00:17:23] Speaker B: Now, let's not play footsie. Ras, love. [00:17:25] Speaker G: You have obviously been drinking, Monsieur. [00:17:27] Speaker B: Oh, yes. The water in that carafe outside's 100 proof. Well, looks as though this is my stop, Raslav. [00:17:34] Speaker G: You are leaving us? [00:17:35] Speaker B: If you don't mind. [00:17:36] Speaker G: But I do. I mind enough to blow your head off if you attempt to leave this compartment. [00:17:44] Speaker B: It's a nice ride you've got there. German Luger, isn't it? Looks like a pre war model. [00:17:49] Speaker G: Sit down and be quiet. You will remain in that seat until this train has left the station. [00:17:54] Speaker B: Then what? [00:17:55] Speaker G: Then we will decide exactly what to do with you. [00:18:04] Speaker B: So I had two choices. I could either make a run for it and get a bullet in the back of my head. Or I could sit there and wait for him to a bullet in the front. If murder wasn't his specialty, at least it was a hobby with this character. And as he smiled and smoked and smoked and smiled, his finger fondled the gun trigger like a jeweler caressing an 18 carat diamond. What are you waiting for? [00:18:29] Speaker G: I beg your pardon. [00:18:30] Speaker B: We've left the station. When does target practice begin? [00:18:34] Speaker G: What did Mykonov tell you just before he died? [00:18:37] Speaker B: He said the Dodgers will absolutely bag the series. Just wait till next year. [00:18:43] Speaker G: What? [00:18:45] Speaker B: Next question. [00:18:46] Speaker G: You are in a dangerous situation, my. [00:18:49] Speaker B: Friend, you're telling me. [00:18:51] Speaker G: I am beginning to feel sorry for you. [00:18:53] Speaker B: Oh, thanks. [00:18:54] Speaker G: When a diplomat of Mr. Mechanov's standing is found murdered in his compartment. [00:18:59] Speaker B: Murdered? Oh, relax, Raslav. Your dialectic materialism is showing. [00:19:03] Speaker G: I beg your pardon? [00:19:04] Speaker B: Mechanov killed himself with a dose of poison that would have put away a horse. [00:19:08] Speaker G: I beg your pardon? He was murdered by you. [00:19:13] Speaker B: By which. [00:19:14] Speaker G: This is your hat, is it not? [00:19:16] Speaker B: What? [00:19:16] Speaker G: It was found near the body. It is unmistakable evidence of your guilt. [00:19:20] Speaker B: You know, you better lay off the Bosch junior. It's going to your head. Why should I? Kill me off? Where's my motive? [00:19:28] Speaker G: You wish to rob him? [00:19:29] Speaker B: Of what? [00:19:30] Speaker G: This sum of money I have here. Three million French francs. [00:19:34] Speaker B: You mean the sum of money you just pulled out of your own pocket? You know, a plant like that would be laughed out of any court in the world. Except. [00:19:44] Speaker G: Except when in Moscow. Is that what you are going to say? [00:19:48] Speaker B: We're a long way from Moscow now. [00:19:50] Speaker G: Raslav, but only a short way from the Czech frontier. I give you my word, my. My friend, that you will be given a fair and most interesting trial when we arrive. [00:20:04] Speaker B: Sound incredible? Well, it didn't to me. This cookie had it all worked out. And I was sure he'd even arrange for me to make a full confession of the crime. Oh, it was a neat package with all the edges trimmed. It would save them the embarrassment of each. Even the hint of suspicion that Mekhanov killed himself to avoid going back to the promised land. You keeping me company for the night, Raslov? With your permission, we'll take the upper berth. Maybe you'll fall out of it and break your neck. [00:20:34] Speaker G: We will be at Nurnberg in the morning. From there it is only a short time until we reach the Czech frontier. [00:20:41] Speaker B: Haven't you overlooked something? So the German customs guard will inspect this compartment when we reach the Franco German frontier. [00:20:48] Speaker G: My party has diplomatic immunity, my friend. No one will bother to question us in as much as you will be included on our diplomatic list. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Score one for your side. Yes, well, I'll be in there pitching, chum, right to the end of the game. We settled down facing each other across the room, and the hours ticked by. We got past the Franco German frontier just as he'd said. No one even troubling to knock on my compartment door. And I knew he had his cronies outside, well briefed. The next stop was Nuremberg, the last before the Czech frontier. And I had to make my move by then or lose my chips. Sleepy Raslav? [00:21:40] Speaker G: I am wide awake, my Friend, how. [00:21:44] Speaker B: About a cup of coffee? [00:21:45] Speaker G: Breakfast can wait. [00:21:47] Speaker B: You know, I haven't had anything under my belt since yesterday afternoon. [00:21:49] Speaker G: I will find it good for the figure. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Why don't you sit a little closer, Raslav? It's cozier. [00:21:57] Speaker G: I am comfortable where I am, just an arm and revolver length away from your heart. [00:22:05] Speaker B: Want to make a bargain with you? [00:22:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:09] Speaker B: Set me free and I'll hand you a very interesting paper. Or signed by Mekhanov himself. [00:22:18] Speaker G: Is this some kind of a bluff, my friend? [00:22:21] Speaker B: It's right here in my pocket. A complete expose of what you call your People's Republic. Mekhanov signed it before he died. [00:22:31] Speaker G: There he. Very interesting. [00:22:35] Speaker B: Come on over here and take it and set me free. [00:22:38] Speaker G: I'll take it, my friend, but as far as you are concerned. [00:22:45] Speaker B: I've been waiting all night to get him close enough so I could land a left hook. And in his anxiety for that paper, he dropped his guard for just a moment. As I connected, I ducked and his bullet hit the wall. Two seconds later, I was tearing down the corridor toward the front the car. I didn't know where I was running because the train was going too fast to allow me to make a jump. All I knew was that the winner of this chase got my head as a trophy and I was anxious to keep it right where it was, on top of my neck. It was four in the morning. Everybody on board the train was asleep. Everyone it is. There was one of Raslov's bodyguards behind me, firing away like a hillbilly on a turkey chute. There was only one thing to do, so I did it. I reached the next car. I ducked into the nearest compartment, out of sight. [00:23:37] Speaker H: Well, I declare. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Excuse me, ma'am. [00:23:40] Speaker H: How dare you come into this here compartment uninvited? [00:23:42] Speaker B: For the love of Mike, lady, will you please be quiet? [00:23:44] Speaker H: Quiet? Where I come from, you'd be roped like a steer, young man, for walking into a lady's bouloir this way. Why, it's a good thing I was dressed to get off at Nuremberg. Why, I never saw the likes of. [00:23:55] Speaker A: Shh. [00:23:57] Speaker B: Look, ma'am, my life depends on you. I'm an American. I'm running away from a communist killer. If you tell him I'm in here, I'm finished. [00:24:07] Speaker H: Whose they are? [00:24:08] Speaker G: We are looking for a thief, madam. A dangerous man. Are you alone in your compartment? [00:24:13] Speaker H: Of course I'm alone. [00:24:14] Speaker G: Are you sure? [00:24:15] Speaker H: Are you calling me a liar or. Why, if my husband were here, he'd slap your sassy face. [00:24:20] Speaker G: Excuse me, madam. Excuse me. [00:24:23] Speaker H: He's gone. [00:24:26] Speaker B: Thanks a lot. [00:24:27] Speaker H: Now what's going on here? [00:24:30] Speaker B: Are you from Texas? [00:24:31] Speaker H: Naturally. [00:24:32] Speaker B: My mother came from Texas. [00:24:34] Speaker H: Well, why didn't you say so in the first place, young man? [00:24:37] Speaker B: Look, lady, I've got to get off this train at Nuremberg or my life isn't worth a cent. Now, maybe you can help me. [00:24:43] Speaker H: How? [00:24:43] Speaker B: Will you lend me some clothes? [00:24:45] Speaker H: My clothes? [00:24:46] Speaker B: Just a dress, a veil and a hat if you've got them. I think I can sneak across the Nuremberg station without being shot at. [00:24:52] Speaker H: You mean they're shooting at you too? [00:24:54] Speaker B: It's open season on Americans out there in the corridor. But don't worry, they never shoot tourists in Europe. What is this? [00:25:00] Speaker H: My night robe. Now wait a sec. I'll see if I can find you something to wear in my suitcase. [00:25:04] Speaker B: Well, look, hurry, will you? We're doing Nuremberg any minute now. We have got. [00:25:08] Speaker H: Hey, what's the matter? [00:25:10] Speaker B: We're riding right through Nuremberg station. [00:25:12] Speaker H: We are? [00:25:13] Speaker B: We're not stopping here. This train is going right onto the Czech frontier. [00:25:17] Speaker H: But my ticket says Nurnberg. We got to stop now. [00:25:20] Speaker B: Wait. Wait right here. [00:25:21] Speaker H: Where you going, young man? [00:25:22] Speaker B: Somebody has pulled a fast and I'm going out to investigate. And thanks a lot for your help. [00:25:25] Speaker H: Ms. Or Mrs. Yeah, you just call me Hortense. And good luck to you. [00:25:34] Speaker B: I poked my head out of the corridor and found it empty. I was just three cars from the engine now, and as I walked forward, I would have given every cent I owned to have an extra set of eyes in the back of my skull. But they must have been looking for me in the rear of the train because I did okay until I reached the baggage car. And then the train lurched and I swung sideways against what I thought was a tied up duffel bag until I heard a groan. Then I saw it was the conductor. Holy smoke. All right, take it easy. Take it easy, Alphonse. [00:26:01] Speaker F: I'll get you out of here. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Just a minute. What happened? [00:26:07] Speaker E: They hit my head and tied me, monsieur. This is an outrage. [00:26:10] Speaker B: Where are they? [00:26:11] Speaker E: Two of them are forward running the engine, monsieur. They've also knocked out the engineers. [00:26:14] Speaker B: That means they've got complete control of this train. They're going to try and ride it across the Czech frontier with all passengers. [00:26:19] Speaker E: Look behind you, monsieur, in back of the donk. [00:26:21] Speaker B: Right. Oh, it's Mechanos. They carried him in here. [00:26:25] Speaker E: I owe you the apologies, monsieur, if I had no idea. [00:26:28] Speaker B: All right, never mind that now. We have to work fast. [00:26:31] Speaker E: They are all armed, monsieur. They would shoot us down if we ever showed our heads near the engine. [00:26:35] Speaker B: There are four of them altogether. Two up front, two behind. How long before we reach the Czech frontier? [00:26:40] Speaker E: Well, not at your best. Nuremberg, monsieur. Very soon. [00:26:42] Speaker B: Wait a minute. Levanc. Somebody's coming. [00:26:44] Speaker E: Monsieur. Be quiet. [00:26:49] Speaker F: Monsieur, le conducteur avez vous? [00:26:55] Speaker B: I was hoping that it'd be Raslaw, but it's one of his stooges all right. Start tying him up good and tight. [00:27:00] Speaker E: Where are you going, monsieur? [00:27:01] Speaker B: Meet me in the rear of the train. Just as soon as you trust this guy. Now, Raslav is alone back there, which makes it a little more even. He's been on my tail up to now. I think it's just about time I started chasing him. I made my way slowly toward the rear of the train, watching a video vestibule and compartment door. I had a plan in mind, but it wouldn't work until I got hold of Raslov and his gun. As I passed through the car in which the Texas gal had her compartment, I noticed her door was open. I stopped and I stepped inside and saw her standing against the window, staring at me with worried eyes. [00:27:40] Speaker H: Don't come in. Don't. [00:27:41] Speaker G: Please do. [00:27:42] Speaker H: Oh, I tried to warn you. He come in here with his gun just a minute ago and hid behind the door. [00:27:48] Speaker B: It's all right, Hortense. I just as soon have it his way. [00:27:51] Speaker G: First of all, you will give me that paper signed by my colleague, my friend. [00:27:55] Speaker B: Sure, I'll give it to you. [00:27:56] Speaker G: Only this time, you will put it over there on the windowsill. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Right. Now what? [00:28:04] Speaker G: Now we will complete some unfinished business. [00:28:07] Speaker H: What's he going to do? [00:28:09] Speaker B: Carry me into Russian territory for another one of their phoney trials? [00:28:12] Speaker G: On the contrary, I have decided that he's too much of a nuisance. [00:28:15] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:28:16] Speaker G: I will save my country the time and expense and try you myself, right here. I, Andre Russlo, find you guilty of murder and I sentence you to immediate execution. [00:28:27] Speaker H: Why, that's preposterous. [00:28:28] Speaker B: Oh, no. That's par for the course where he comes from. [00:28:31] Speaker G: Turn around. [00:28:31] Speaker B: What about the lady? [00:28:32] Speaker G: Never mind the lady. Turn. [00:28:34] Speaker H: No, no, you couldn't. [00:28:42] Speaker B: Just as he raised his gun to fire, the conductor showed up near the open door. Raslov's eyes wavered for just a second, and that was all the time I needed. [00:28:48] Speaker E: Are you good? [00:28:50] Speaker B: He fired as I kicked his gun hand, and he was on me in a flash with his hands on my throat and his thumbs pushing holes in my Adam's apple. I could feel my windpipe beginning to snap like a reed while he choked the breath back into My lungs. And then, just when I thought I'd had it, I raised my knee as hard as I could planet and square in his middle. All right. Hey, hop into his feet. I've got his gun up. Monsieur. [00:29:15] Speaker G: In three minutes, this train will be across the frontier, my friend. There is nothing you can do to stop it. [00:29:20] Speaker B: No. Drag him out of the car, then quick. [00:29:22] Speaker E: Outside, monsieur. [00:29:23] Speaker B: Take him to the vestibule. To the end of the car. Pete. [00:29:25] Speaker E: Monsieur Hunt. [00:29:29] Speaker B: All right, open the door. Conductor, you know how to uncouple this train? [00:29:37] Speaker E: Uncouple the train? [00:29:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:39] Speaker E: Sickly day. If we separate this car from the engine, they go on without that. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Don't touch that. [00:29:45] Speaker B: One more crack out of you and I'll break your head wide open. All right, conductor. Work fast. [00:29:50] Speaker E: It is not too easy. [00:29:52] Speaker B: All right, the border. We're coming to the frontier. I can see the stanchions up ahead. And I'll make it snappy there. [00:30:01] Speaker E: The trench is all ready to speak. [00:30:02] Speaker B: Hold it a second. I'll take that signed statement, Raslov. Yes. Thank you very kindly. And now you can join your pals in the front section. [00:30:09] Speaker C: Au revoir. [00:30:11] Speaker E: He's shuffling his book. And, monsieur, we are free. [00:30:25] Speaker B: Well, there's the story. Headline, lead and payoff. But it won't be published. Why? Because they've got a new guy in there, a substitute. [00:30:37] Speaker E: The peoples of the Soviet Union want peace. We alone know the meaning of freedom. It is in the west where you will find. [00:30:48] Speaker B: He looks like Mekhanov. He calls himself Mekhanov. He sounds like Mekhanov and he mouths the same farina. They deny that Mechanoph is dead. Only I know better. But maybe I'll have a chance to publish my yarn when Mechanoff, number two, decides to swallow poison. The Chase was created and written for. [00:31:30] Speaker F: The National Broadcasting Company by Lawrence Cleeve. Featured in tonight's cast were John Larkin, Leon Janney, Roger De Koven, Ruth York and Bill Quinn. The Chase is directed and transcribed by Edward King. Fred Collins speaking. [00:31:47] Speaker B: Next week, a telephone call that stretches. [00:31:49] Speaker F: Between life and death when we present Long Distance on the Chase. [00:32:05] Speaker A: That was Iron Curtain Express from the Chase here on the mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast once again. I'm Eric. [00:32:14] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:32:14] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:32:15] Speaker A: That was my pick that I brought to the podcast this week. And I can't wait to find out what you guys think of this. [00:32:25] Speaker D: I just don't know why you like it. I mean, what does this have that. [00:32:30] Speaker A: Would appeal to you if AI wrote a radio story for Me. That would be exactly what it is. [00:32:38] Speaker D: This with six fingers on each hand and one bent. [00:32:43] Speaker A: In some weird way, I laughed when I sent this because they're gonna listen to this and go, yeah, yeah. [00:32:53] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:32:53] Speaker A: It's got every box checked for Eric right there. Yeah. [00:32:57] Speaker C: I mean, I didn't need to listen to it because it's from the Chase. [00:33:01] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:02] Speaker C: And it's called the Iron Curtain Express. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:05] Speaker C: So unless this is like a store at the Mall of America that sells totalitarian draperies, this is right up your alley. So I didn't even listen to. [00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah, honestly, I listened to it four times. Not out of due diligence. To do a really good job on the podcast because I couldn't do. [00:33:26] Speaker C: God forbid. [00:33:26] Speaker A: God forbid. Because I loved it so much, I listened to it four times. I. I don't know quite how to say this without it coming off weird, but I write a show, Shades Brigade, another radio show that I write. This is exactly how I write. This is my style of. It's like I wrote this. It's everything that I do in that show for the 150 episodes becoming a. [00:33:54] Speaker C: Little more egomaniacal than I see. [00:33:57] Speaker A: But I did put a warning at the top of that sentence. I don't know how to say this, but this is exactly how I write radio shows. So you're saying everything. [00:34:07] Speaker D: Travel back in time. Some put it the future to write this episode. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Listen, I'm thinking maybe I did. God, this is a great show. Why do you guys hate it? [00:34:21] Speaker D: As a small contrast to our last discussion of the Whistler and sort of going up to low expectations, this is one where I like, I have my expectations of what this show's gonna be. And it ticked them all and beat them. And the expectations were like, high of like, I like the chase. Yeah, I know specifically what this story is going to be. It's chase. [00:34:45] Speaker A: Someone's going to be running at some point. [00:34:48] Speaker D: It's a story of high octane characters doing high octane things. [00:34:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:54] Speaker D: And I liked it. [00:34:55] Speaker A: With a plot that wasn't overly convoluted to me, but yet had intrigue. [00:35:01] Speaker D: Yeah. You kind of know, like, what the general gist is, but I. I did not see coming that this Russian figure was going to be giving his deathbed speech and confession. That's not what I thought was going to happen. [00:35:17] Speaker C: For my part, I had expectations going into this, and my expectation was the last 15 minutes of this show. I thought that's what the entirety of this thing would be, which was expertly done. But to me, Action on audio doesn't super grab me. I mean, I admire when it's well done and I don't have any criticisms of it, but I was really surprised by and thoroughly enjoyed the first half of it before it became what I expected. Well, for starters, to your point about it being a simple plot we set up that this guy's a journalist. Right. But journalism plays almost no role in the plot. He is motivated entirely by his desire to taunt communists. He's not sent on this assignment. [00:36:07] Speaker A: Nope. [00:36:08] Speaker C: He stands in his doorway on the train for five hours just waiting for a chance to knock on Mekhanov's door and say, communism is stupid in your face. [00:36:19] Speaker A: That's a negative land song. No, that was Christianity is stupid, not. [00:36:26] Speaker C: Communism is stupid crossover. [00:36:29] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:36:29] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:36:31] Speaker C: So I really enjoyed that. And the twist that Tim mentioned where I. Because he had such anger toward, which is. I mean, communism has killed millions and millions of people. That anger is justified. But I did not expect it to be a confession on the part of Mekhanov. Like, you're right, I'm going to give you exactly what you want. [00:36:51] Speaker A: But not only giving the reporter the character, exactly what he wants. That moment was giving anybody in America listening to this exactly what they want. And that is that confession of just admit you're lying. [00:37:06] Speaker C: But it wasn't quite as simple as that either, because Mekhanov is very clear to say, it's not because I love your stupid America. [00:37:14] Speaker A: Right. [00:37:15] Speaker C: You know, it's because they killed my wife. He's sort of a man without a country now. He's just. Yeah, he is full of rage, too. And he just wants to burn stuff down before he goes right again. [00:37:27] Speaker D: It's got a little more flourish than just action on a Train is that ending beat of like, so I got the confession, I got off the train, and I did nothing with it. [00:37:40] Speaker A: Right. [00:37:41] Speaker D: Because they covered this guy's death up so thoroughly. [00:37:45] Speaker C: It's Mechanov 2.0 gets introduced. Yeah. And that's a nice little button. I wouldn't call it a twist. It's just that, yeah, it fits and it's perfect. [00:37:54] Speaker A: I really hope that the Foley artist for this show that the train sounds were on an album, because that's a half an hour of shaking a macaroni and cheese box. [00:38:08] Speaker F: We've all shaken that macaroni and cheese box. [00:38:12] Speaker C: I can't shake it as long as I used to. [00:38:16] Speaker A: But that production value of this is, I believe, exquisite. From the sound to creating the space that we're supposed to imagine with sound. [00:38:28] Speaker D: I also really enjoyed that Texan woman. [00:38:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:32] Speaker D: This quick introduction of, like, this might be an obstacle. This could be ruinous. Like, I'm on board. [00:38:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:40] Speaker C: And here's where I'm sure that I depart from Eric and that I believe a ending involving him dressed as a Texan woman to get off the tree would have been awesome. [00:38:54] Speaker A: You do not differentiate from me on that. When they went right through. I can't remember the town, they went past Nuremberg. Nuremberg. [00:39:01] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:39:01] Speaker A: Like, my first thought was, ah, we're not going to get the. The disguise from the Texas woman on and run through the train station. Oh, but such a fantastic, fun. Ridiculous. It's Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's just nonstop action to me. And infallible hero. [00:39:21] Speaker D: She picked the outfit out, too. You've got broad shoulders. [00:39:27] Speaker A: Let me find some. [00:39:27] Speaker C: Thank you. I love that he knocks on the door and says, I'm running from a communist killer. And that gets him admittance into the Texas lady's boudoir. [00:39:43] Speaker A: Because I would believe that a Texas person back then would be chomping at the bit to take out a communist. [00:39:51] Speaker D: And also, I mean, the scene, I don't know if this was the intent or not, but it read to me of talking to this guy who clearly is like, this is an American. I don't really trust him. He just burst in here. Let me think about this. And then train employee comes in with a European accent looking for this guy. Like, I trust the American accent. [00:40:09] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:40:09] Speaker A: I think the plot itself also doesn't have. I mean, it's all implausible, but it doesn't have holes in it where I go, well, wait a minute. You said this and now that. [00:40:21] Speaker C: Well, that's the benefit of keeping it this simple. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. [00:40:24] Speaker C: There's no complexity to get snagged on. [00:40:26] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:27] Speaker D: The only thing which I'm sure it is true, but the very beginning of. So your job is to sit in Paris and do nothing. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:37] Speaker C: Welcome to 20th Century Journalism. [00:40:40] Speaker A: I guess that's how I picture Hemingway's entire life. Sitting around waiting for stuff to happen to him so he can write about it. [00:40:50] Speaker D: I brought a bunch of cats. [00:40:54] Speaker C: There's some definitely fun dialogue in here. [00:40:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And I can't remember any of it. [00:40:59] Speaker C: Shooting, like firing away like a hillbilly on a turkey shoe. There it is. [00:41:04] Speaker A: Hillbilly on a turkey shoot. Yep, that was a good one. [00:41:06] Speaker C: Relax, Razlov. You're a dialectic material. Materialism is showing. [00:41:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I wouldn't have the argument with anybody about this. Who said, you know, didn't like it or whatever and say, you're absolutely wrong. For me, this is absolute gold. This is classic and one of the best pieces of old time radio I've ever heard. God, I loved it so, so much. It's, you know, I haven't been this excited since A Man Called X entered my life and I went, oh, no, where have you been all my life? This is sweet, warm blanket of just easy listening, high action. Here's the thing that I love. You said something about action oriented radio drama. I love when narrators narrate the action that they're in at the moment. And it comes with all the. All the fighting. [00:42:08] Speaker C: I do too. [00:42:09] Speaker A: And then I picked them up and threw them to the ground. [00:42:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I should back off that a little bit. It's just that I so enjoyed the first 15 minutes of this. I really loved the Cold War propaganda deliciousness of it and that when it became what I knew the Chase would do and do well, I guess the rest of this is going to be a chase on a train. And Eric's like, the rest of this. [00:42:33] Speaker B: Is going to be a chase on a train. [00:42:36] Speaker A: I will say this, though, you know, I've got a lot more episodes of the Chase I'm going to listen to in my life. I want to get through all of them, but nothing is ever going to beat. And I'll never. I can't remember. We've performed it on stage. I can't remember the name of it, but nothing. [00:42:51] Speaker D: Reporter. [00:42:52] Speaker A: Yeah, the ending of listening to Hitler being eaten alive by piranhas. That is one of the best. [00:43:02] Speaker C: I think that one has a bunch of different names. It's listed in different program guides under three or four different names, and some of them give away the twist at the end. So I think I used one of the lesser used names when we featured it on the podcast because you wouldn't want to call it Hitler eaten by a piranha. [00:43:23] Speaker A: Or would you? [00:43:24] Speaker C: Possibly. [00:43:25] Speaker D: Spoiler warning. [00:43:26] Speaker A: I would love to think that that episode of the Chase is written backwards. This ends with Hitler getting eaten by piranhas. Go. [00:43:35] Speaker C: How do we get there? [00:43:36] Speaker A: How do we get there? [00:43:37] Speaker C: How do we not get there? [00:43:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't even know how to break this down anymore. [00:43:46] Speaker C: This is not specific to this episode, so keep that in mind. When I say it, it just struck me listening to it. Do you gentlemen in the 21st century put your initials in individual garments, in hats, in gloves? And that's part of all, like 20th century? [00:44:06] Speaker A: Not anymore. No. When I was a kid, I Remember that being done for me, But I don't do that anymore. [00:44:12] Speaker C: Adults regularly did it in a lot. [00:44:14] Speaker A: I'm not losing my science fiction. And if I lose my underwear, I don't want it back. [00:44:19] Speaker C: I get it in the hat. It was an era in which all men wore hats and they wouldn't wear them inside, so they'd take them off and they would look similar. [00:44:27] Speaker A: Sure. [00:44:28] Speaker C: I still wonder how you identify someone by just initials, though. It seems like that's like putting half your return address on a piece of mail and hoping they figure it out. [00:44:39] Speaker D: Raslov had seen him earlier. [00:44:42] Speaker C: It is not in any way like a plot hole in this episode. It just made me think about, like, I don't know any adults who put their initials on their hats, on their trilbys. [00:44:52] Speaker A: No, I don't write my name on nothing. [00:44:55] Speaker C: And it mainly happens in detective fiction. [00:44:57] Speaker D: My Social Security number. [00:45:00] Speaker C: Well, in detective fiction, you always have a group of suspects who all have the same initials. So when they find the clue with the initials on it, it could be at least three of these people. And then, of course, the initials don't actually represent the person's name. It's all red herring. It's some other code or something. Sorry for the digression, but no, not at all. [00:45:19] Speaker A: I'm actually thinking through. It's so true in what we do that initials on things come up a lot in the stories that we are interested in from that era. [00:45:30] Speaker D: You did make that arc from that seems like flimsy evidence to convict this guy of murder. Of we found a hat with your initials, which then descended to, like, we're gonna skip the trial. I just find you guilty right now. [00:45:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:43] Speaker C: I think that was always his concern, is that the other communists would know who he was and find him. Or did he express explicitly that he thought he would be on trial in some legitimate way so they would just. [00:45:57] Speaker D: Threaten him at some point of like, we have evidence that you murdered this guy. [00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah. The idea is you don't need to even prove your innocence or your evidence in their society at that time that any excuse to murder you is going to work. They don't have to sit him down in a court of law and prove that that's his hat. So, yeah, I would like to vote. Do we have a category of greatest radio show of all time? [00:46:28] Speaker C: We do now, I guess. [00:46:30] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm not going to do that. I've said everything I've said. I think it stands the test of time. I think it's of a certain genre and it's really well done. I think it' really well acted, really well produced, really well written. It moves. It doesn't not hold your attention. It creates that space with sound that you can imagine where you are. And it's. There's so many things I could compare it to, you know, a Mission Impossible movie or a Raiders of the Lost Ark and all those kind of things with that action. And as you said, Joshua, just a really simple premise so it doesn't get convoluted. And just staying in that game. Just stay in that game. That's all it is. And what are the stakes and what are the obstacles that come in and how do you resolve them? That's really fun. [00:47:25] Speaker D: The action sequences, all the things compare them to like mission Apocalypse. In Raiders of the Lost Ark. There's all these specific steps that take place in that particular dance of. This is what action on a train is like. They did not go up on the roof of the train. But aside from that of like, we need to get off the train. This train didn't stop where it's supposed to. Yes. [00:47:46] Speaker C: We have to get to the engine. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Yes. [00:47:48] Speaker D: Create the drama. And as we've been saying, it didn't reinvent the wheel. It just. These are the things that make a good sort of train story. And it did them. But then as Joshua also said, the thing he did nicely was previous to that set up kind of a sophisticated set of motivations for these characters. So as they're going through these kind of familiar, comforting, but un. Innovative steps, I was invested in a way that made it not feel rote. [00:48:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:19] Speaker C: I can't add to that. That's exactly how I felt. Tim is now speaking for me on the podcast. [00:48:24] Speaker F: Oh, no. [00:48:27] Speaker A: At what point when you started listening to this did you roll your eyes and go, oh, Eric, I told you. [00:48:33] Speaker C: When I read the name of the episode. No. That actually increases my enjoyment of it knowing like Eric loves this and I think it was good. [00:48:44] Speaker D: It was tempting. They're like, hey, Eric, I'm about to listen to this episode. Do you want to come and watch me listen to this? [00:48:48] Speaker A: Yes, I kind of do. [00:48:51] Speaker C: So. [00:48:52] Speaker G: No. [00:48:52] Speaker C: I think it's definitely stands the test of time as a thriller. [00:48:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:57] Speaker C: And then also is really historically interesting. [00:49:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:00] Speaker C: Particularly first half. I hate communists so much. I'm going to get on this train. [00:49:07] Speaker A: Really, really does play them. Really. Right. Really does play into the sociological desire of an American at that time of. I just want to corner one of these guys and ask them, why are you doing this? [00:49:26] Speaker C: He just shows up at their speeches. He trolls them. [00:49:29] Speaker A: Trolls them. All right, Tim, tell him stuff. [00:49:33] Speaker D: Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com home of this podcast. You can find other episodes there. We've got a whole bunch of other stuff there and you can vote in polls, you can leave comments, let us know what you thought about this so that you can also tell Eric how much you love it. And you'll find links to our store. You can also join our Patreon. [00:49:53] Speaker C: Yes, go to patreon.com themorals and please support this podcast now. Eric enjoyed this episode so much that I think he might listen to episodes of the Chase for free going forward, but that's about it. So if you want to keep Eric listening to non Chase episodes and talking about them on the podcast, become a patron today and support this podcast. We've got all sorts of extra bonus material, chances to hang out with us on Zoom, and more important than us because we're actually quite boring, is you get a chance to hang out and connect with other old time radio and Morals fans, whether that be on a Zoom happy hour or on our Patreon Discord server. So yes, go to patreon.com the morals and become a member today. [00:50:43] Speaker A: Speaking of Patreons, it just occurred to me that our Patreon Amy's also really going to love this episode. [00:50:49] Speaker C: All right, well Amy, let us know if you don't. [00:50:52] Speaker A: Oh, there's no way. [00:50:53] Speaker C: I'll give you Eric's number. [00:50:55] Speaker A: If you'd like to see us performing live. The mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Theater Company does recreations live on stage of classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original work. Find out where we're performing, what we're performing, and how to get tickets by going to ghoulishdelights.com if you are unable to come see us live, which we'd love to see, you come see us. But if you can't, as a Patreon, we have audio recordings of our shows that are made and we post those for Patreon. [00:51:26] Speaker C: We perform these shows in front of an audience who largely enjoys them. [00:51:32] Speaker A: It might be edited with the Bob Newhart Show Laugh Tracks. What's coming up next? [00:51:39] Speaker C: Next is a patron request quest. We will be listening to first contact from X minus 1. [00:51:47] Speaker B: Until then, their speeches may sound funny, but they're sad, friend. And as I listened to Mechanov's Varsity Dragged, I got the feeling I always get this was where I came in. Good. [00:52:09] Speaker F: Communism is good. Communism is good. [00:52:15] Speaker B: Like in Korea. [00:52:17] Speaker E: Give up, give up. [00:52:26] Speaker B: Give up that pig's eye.