Friday, June 02, 2023

Night Beat - "The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead" (03-20-50)

The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead (Aired March 20, 1950)


Broadcast on NBC, Nightbeat ran from 1949 to 1952 and starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, a tough and streetwise reporter who worked the nightbeat for the Chicago Star looking for human interest stories. He met an assortment of people, most of them with a problem, many of them scared, and sometimes he was able to help them, sometimes he wasn’t. It is generally regarded as a ‘quality’ show and it stands up extremely well. Frank Lovejoy (1914-1962) isn’t remembered today, but he was a powerful and believable actor with a strong delivery, and his portrayal of Randy Stone as tough guy with humanity was perfect. The scripts were excellent, given that they had to pack in a lot in a short time, and there was a good supporting cast, orchestra, and sound effects. ‘The Slasher’, broadcast on 10 November 1950, the last show of season one, has a very loosely Ripper-derived plot in which Stone searches for an artist. Supporting actors included Parley Baer, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Lawrence Dobkin, Paul Frees, Jack Kruschen, Peter Leeds, Howard McNear, Lurene Tuttle and Martha Wentworth.


 

THIS EPISODE:



March 20, 1950. "The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead" - NBC network. Sustaining. Randy Stone meets a man in the park on a very hot day. He is wearing a heavy overcoat! Mr. Henry Kazarian claims to be dead, and a doctor confirms it! A well-written story, good radio! Part of the final public service announcement and the system cue have been deleted. Frank Lovejoy, Larry Marcus (writer, editor), Ben Wright, Betty Lou Gerson, Paul Dubov, Warren Lewis (director), Frank Worth (music), Jeff Corey, Lou Krugman. 28:52. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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