Month: April 2022

Audio Drama Review: George Edwards’ Les Miserables, Volumes 1 and 2

Radio Archives often comes up with unique offerings that separate it from other old time radio sellers. Such is the case with its two-volume release of the Australian serial adaptation of Les Miserables by Australian actor/producer George Edwards.

Transcription disks of the fifty-two episode 1949 serial are not in general circulation, so this has been a treat that has not been heard in decades.

The sound quality is immaculate and I expect nothing less from this company. Radio Archives has consistently shown a talent for bringing these golden age treasures to listeners in sound quality that exceeds what most original listeners heard over the radio.

The classic story follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who spent nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and for subsequent escape attempts. On his release, Valjean is forced to carry a yellow passport that causes would-be employers and landlords to repel him, but his life is changed forever by the kindness of a bishop.

Les Miserables is a massive work with a giant cast of characters and no adaptation can capture everything. Still, the story seemed to get most of the essential and best-known elements of the novel and makes it fit into the serial format. Episodes five and six are missing from the collection, but I didn’t really feel I missed much by their absence. Episode four ends just after Valjean’s encounter with the Bishop and episode seven starts just after Valjean has become mayor of a small town under an assumed name. Even basic familiarity with the story kind of allows you to fill in the blanks and Valjean himself summarizes important details.

The story does take a few twists noticeably different from the book, and ends in a very different way, which may offend literary purists, but is nevertheless is still a reasonably satisfying ending to the story.

There were a couple moments I questioned in this. Given the limited time for the adaptation, it was odd that the story includes both Valjean as a prisoner showing a feat of strength and Inspect Javert having a flashback to that exact same scene a few episodes later. A little bit of exposition or a shorter flashback would have provided economy and more time to expand the story. Or they could not have shown the scene at all the first time, since we were going to have Javert remember.

The sound design and music on the production is, for the most part, standard and competent in a way that you’d expect from a production of the era. It uses similar themes and musical bridges over and over again. But there are also some high points in the series that really are brought home by some really outstanding musical arrangements.

The unnamed cast is solid. There’s not a weak performance in the entire company. The actor who plays Inspector Javert delivers the best performance. He brings out Javert’s manic madness in a way that’s captivating. He makes every ridiculous, mad step Javert takes in the story completely believable. In another context, the performance might be over the top, but this actor nailed the performance and captured the character of Javert in a way that really elevates the entire production.

Radio Archives released the set in two volumes. The first collected episodes one through four and seven through twenty-seven. The second volume collected volumes twenty-eight through fifty-two.

If you’ve listened to and enjoyed other George Edwards serials such as The Adventures of Marco Polo or if you’d just like to hear a fresh serialized take on Les Miserables, this is a collection worth listening to.

Radio: 4.5 out of 5

Volumes 1 and 2 of Les Miserables are available to purchase as downloads on the Radio Archives websites.

EP3752: Tales of the Texas Rangers: The Trap

Two truckers are trapped and killed by hijackers and their cargo of car radios are stolen.

Original Air Date; February 25, 1951

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EP3751:Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Gino Gamboa Matter

John Lund

Johnny investigates the murder of an insured ex-racketeer whose testimony led to the extradition of a mob boss to Sicilly.

Original Air Date: November 3, 1953

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EP3750: Philo Vance: The High Hat Murder Case

A wealthy heiress is murdered after showing up at Vance’s office and offering him money to not solve her murder if she is killed.

Original Air Date: March 29, 1949

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EP3749: Man Called X: Silcilian Farmland

Herbert Marshall

The Man Called X tries to help a young man pull off an Easter miracle with the delivery of a new tractor.

Original Air Date: April 15, 1952

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EP3748: Mr. Chameleon: The Hanging Judge Murder Case

Karl Swenson

A tough judge is murdered in a museum.

Original Air Date: September 21, 1949

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Dangerous Assignment: Find Nazi Fugitive


Today’s Mystery: Steve goes to Malayia to find the leader of a terrorist group that’s been attacking rubber plantations.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: February 3, 1951

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Join us back here tomorrow for another old time radio detective audio drama.

EP3747: Casey, Crime Photographer: Unlucky Numbers

Stats Cotsworth

Casey goes undercover to investigate the numbers racket.

Original Air Date: June 15, 1950

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Video Theater 224: Decoy: Stranglehold (Encore)

Casey Jones (Beverly Garland) is called in to befriend a young woman when police suspect that her boyfriend is behind a strangulation.

Originally Aired: 1957 (Episode 1)

Book Review: The Glass Key

The Glass Key was a 1931 novel by Dashiell Hammett (best known for The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man.) The story follows Ned Beaumont, a gambler and the chief lieutenant and best friend of town’s corrupt political boss Paul Madvig. Madvig has been calling the shots in his town for many years but now is facing challenges. Madvig plans to endorse a Senator who had been previously been Independent of him but figures he can only survive with Madvig’s support. However, everything gets complicated when the Senator’s son is murdered and signs point to Madvig as the culprit.

The mystery in the story is one of the better plots from Hammett. The clues are well-placed. A fair play purist can go through the book and find everything laid out but not in a way that’s very obvious. It’s well-plot and well-paced, making for a solid reading experience.

As a protagonist, Beaumont is actually very interesting. He’s neither a policeman or a professional detective, but he thinks on his feet, is bright, and generally makes smart moves throughout the book. He is, at best, a morally gray character who works in the furtherance of a corrupt political machine. Yet, he has a couple of virtues that do make him appealing. Chief among them is his personal loyalty.

We”re told that Madvig had help Beaumont out of the gutter when he’d come to town and Beaumont has never forgotten that. He tries to help Madvig often in spite of the political bosses instinct.The Glass Key portrays Madvig as a political boss in decline. It’s not that Madvig doesn’t possess political capital, but rather that it’s dwindling. Beaumont spots mistakes and pitfalls of Madvig’s attempts to maintain his power and tries to warn him. When Madvig refuses to pay attention, Beaumont decides to clear out of town. However, he refuses to provide information to a rival political boss that could be used against Madvig even though it leads to Beaumont being beaten and hospitalized.

Beaumont decides to staon on to clear up the murder of the Senator’s son but finds Madvig as an impediment to resolving the issue. Is Madvig really behind the killing? The book really toys with us right until the last few chapters and a surprising reveal.

The book’s only weakness is that the characters are almost completely unremarkable beyond Beaumont and Madvig. There’s no Casper Gutman or Joel Cairo in this book. Just a pretty run-of-the-mill bunch of underworld characters, society people, and non-descript political figures.

Beyond that weakness, this book is a gem of a mystery and well worth reading for fans of hard boiled fiction.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0

 

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EP3746: Tales of the Texas Rangers: Sweet Harvest

An estranged son of a recently deceased rancher comes home and is murdered.

Original Air Date: February 18, 1951

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EP3745: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Stanley Price Matter

John Lund

Johnny has to figure out whether jewels found by police in pipes were stolen from an insured company.

Original Air Date: September 1, 1953

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Video Theater 223: So Was Goliath (Encore)

Blackie tries to help out a boxer/law student who wants out of the fight game, but is held in place by a contract and a crooked fight boss.

Season 2, Episode 11

Original Air Date: December 26, 1952

EP3744: Philo Vance: The White Willow Murder Case

Philo Vance investigates the murder of a stockbroker.

Original Air Date: March 22, 1949

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EP3743: Man Called X: Tanganyika

Herbert Marshall

Ken Thurston goes to Africa to investigate the source of an uprising and discovers that a supply of cobalt might be at stake.

Original Air Date: March 18, 1952

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