Our thanks to Mark for sending us to the Listener Library this week for a special treat, “The Case of the Flaming Skull,” an episode of The Shadow that was rebroadcast as part of Mystery Playhouse. It’s a treat because we get Peter Lorre serving as host to the Shadow! In this particular episode, our masked hero squares off against a glowing skeletal thief who may have abducted a scientist! What has driven this creature to pursue its thefts? Is the entity a supernatural horror, a product of aberrant science, or a clever fraud? Just how many Batman villains did this episode inspire? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
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Hello, creeps. As a story, this was great. In terms of the performances, John Archer has to be the most un-shadowy Shadow of them all. Other than the added slightly-echoey effect, he didn’t alter his performance at all when he switched from Cranston to The Shadow. He might as well have been playing Lamont the whole time. Unlike Eric, I *was* taken out of the story by his performance. And on the subject of performances, I was glad that Joshua mentioned the announcer’s emphasis of inappropriate syllables, because I also found this odd. Even odder than just emphasizing “to whom”… Read more »
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I’m a huge Bester fan (thanks for the shout out) but even I have to admit that Bester’s work for radio was a mixed bag. If you really want to hear lousy scripts, check out some of the stuff he wrote for CBSRMT. One episode is just elements of Stars My Destination put in a blender with one of his early short stories, “Disappearing Act” and the resulting smoothie is rancid. Sorry to hear Eric didn’t appreciate the Bester interview I posted awhile back. I found him to be a jovial and intelligent dude myself. I suppose I’m biased though… Read more »
A man underpaid by his employer can’t afford health insurance. He gets terminally ill doing his job, terrorizes and murders people to come up with the money to look after his soon-to-be widow and gets horribly electrocuted doing so. The police does the bidding of the greedy boss and perpetuates the chaos and suffering by going after the dying, desperate worker. The spoiled rich protagonist and benefactor of the grift throws some of his own lazy money at the widow at the end. The system of exploitation and chaos is maintained. The end.