Thursday, November 11, 2021

Dark Venture (Mystery Playhouse) - "Turnabout" (05-20-46)

Turnabout (Aired May 20, 1946)

Dark Venture (Mystery House) was a grim kind of thriller where the listener got inside the twisted head of the murderer and heard his thoughts. It was not supernatural horror, but horror just the same... the kind that evil minds spawn when they are scheming ways to kill someone and get away with it. The writing was sharp and gritty. These killers were hardened sociopaths that didn't give a damn about anyone else. They had no conscience and were diabolical in their plots. Unfortunately for them, the audience also liked to see others suffer, especially if that person was guilty and deserved his comeuppance. So each week millions could tune in to "see" the murderer meet his fate on the radio in their mind's eye. The killing method wasn't especially creative. It was usually the tried and true technique of strangulation, knifing, or shooting. No, what made Dark Venture interesting was the manner in which the killer plotted to get away with it all. Killers would devise sinister mind games to trick their wife into believing she was going insane, or manipulate a business partner into thinking he was being stalked by a phantom lover.

THIS EPISODE:

May 20, 1946. ABC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "Turnabout". When a man is caught by his partner after stealing $50,000 from the company, murder seems the only way out. Howard Duff is heard in three different minor roles. AFRS program name: "Mystery Playhouse." The system cue has been deleted. The date is approximate. Howard Duff, Elliott Lewis. 22:58. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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