1947-11-20 Earned Reward

Earned Reward, a well-done Casey script and performance, was produced earlier in the series, on 1946-01-07. This appears to be a last minute substitution for a script titled "Hot Ice," a Cole script that was broadcast on 1944-01-15 as "Casey Compounds a Felony" and also on 1945-08-15 as "Hot Ice." The prior two weeks had scripts by Milton Kramer and Albert Barker, and the week before that was an adapted Witch's Tale script. It is assumed that Cole was away on vacation. For some reason, "Hot Ice" was replaced by this Earned Reward script from nearly two years before, during its unsponsored period. This means that a repeated script was used to replace a repeated script!

According to Siegel & Cox (p79), Earned Reward was the first of two scripts based on an original George Harmon Coxe story. It appeared under the same name in the March 1935 issue of Black Mask magazine. The other was Buried Evidence, broadcast in December 1946 (not in circulation) from the July 1935 issue.

ADC continuity notes from the 1946-01-07 broadcast...

Casey and Ann cover a fire and at it they find the body of Shorty, a cameraman on another paper, who has been shot. In his plate case is a shot of a hunted killer who had been supposed killed in the basement of the burning tenement. Shorty's widow gets the reward money after Logan and Casey capture the killer.

1:52 We get a sense of the fraternity that photographers have for each other, even if they work for other newspapers in town. Casey is generous to one of them, "Shorty," as part of the plotline. He owes Casey $100 ($1200 in 2020 dollars) for a loan he made to get through the expenses of his sick child. Casey refuses to take payment for $10 this week until Shorty's financial situation is better. Shorty works for the Globe, the same newspaper mentioned in The Camera Bug a few episodes ago.

4:08 We learn that one of the brothers of some local criminals, the Mosely brothers, was a former crime photographer for a now defunct local newspaper. Tony Mosely is just out of prison for blackmailing some of the subjects of his crime photos, but according to Casey seems to be "keeping his nose clean."

4:46 We learn of Shorty's predicament, according to what another Globe employee told Ethelbert. Shorty had to take money out of his life insurance to cover debts incurred from caring for his sick child. Cole (and Coxe) sets up circumstances for the upcoming tragedy of Shorty's murder that will inspire Casey to solving the case.

Ethelbert saw Shorty trying to pay Casey back, and Casey covers up his generosity by saying it was for a tip on a horse. Ethelbert says (5:13) "The tips you give out on horses don't call for gratitude, they call for revenge." This gets a chuckle from the studio audience.

5:25 Casey makes reference to the prior week's episode saying he'd like the sandwich he just had on his Blue Note tab because he has no money left from going out on the town last week. He sarcastically calls Ethelbert "Angel Face," the name of the failed play from that episode. This was one of the edits Cole made to this re-used script to bring its continuity in line with the new scripts, and to reward regular listeners for their loyalty in keeping up with the thread that links the episodes.

5:34 Ann comes in and gets Casey to cover a tenement fire on East Farley Street... Casey realizes that's where Shorty was going and Shorty will get the scoop! Crime photography is a close fraternity of very competitive professionals.

8:04 Ann stumbles on Shorty's body! Casey fears Shorty's been shot; someone slugs Casey and knocks him out.

10:06 Logan reports that Joe Mosely died in the tenement fire. He was hiding out in the tenement.

11:23 This is one of the few times we find Casey in the darkroom. He's developing pictures... but he realizes he's been developing pictures from Shorty's camera, and one of them shows his murderer!

14:07 They realize the picture is of Joe Mosely, and that the tenement victim was a body of the same size as Joe, and Mosely's dental bridgework was planted in the body.

16:15 Casey makes a demand that he wants the reward for finding Mosely, $5,000 ($60,000 in 2020 value) and doesn't want to split it with anyone. Logan objects and questions Casey's motives. We know Casey will give it to Shorty's family, but he keeps that secret from Logan and Ann, and Logan questions what seems to be Casey's greedy motive. Ann is upset, too. This is the second time that Casey keeps charity private from others, the first was to Ethelbert.

21:46 Casey intrudes on the meeting with Frank Mosely (the brother who became a lawyer). The Moselys had realized they took Casey's photo case and not Shorty's. One of the thugs forces Ann into the room.

24:00 Casey gets beaten up trying to protect Ann... Logan and his crew barge in on the scene just in time. This is one of the better executed scuffles from a sound effects perspective. Logan says he secretly followed Casey to the scene to get the reward... but admits he knew Casey's plan for the reward money all along. Logan was more upset that Casey was not open and honest about it from the beginning.

26:50 The Blue Note epilogue is just Ann and Logan. Casey is home recovering from his exploits... supposedly... but walks in to the Blue Note with the cops assigned to keep him there... but Casey told them the address of the Blue Note was his home! (Gets a chuckle from the audience).

RadioGoldindex lists Joe Julian in the cast. 

Casey 47-11-20 212 Earned Reward (Repeat of # 122).mp3
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Clippings for the originally planned "Hot Ice"...

1947-11-20 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-11-20 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-11-20 South Bend IN Tribune



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Casey's unique production technique is still being mentioned in the news. It might be possible that CBS re-issued the press release.

1947-11-16 Sioux City IA Journal

1947-11-13 Too Many Angels

Too Many Angels is another non-Cole script, and it is an excellent effort by Albert Barker, writer for the Terry and the Pirates radio series. It is a worthwhile listen and is one of the better Casey episodes. The plot can get a little complex in terms of keeping track of the characters, but it's worth the effort to pay closer attention than for other Casey scripts.

ADC continuity...

Casey and Ann Williams are involved with a musical comedy and murder. Ethelbert, the Blue Note Cafe's number one man, tells Casey and Ann that he's the backer of a new, sure-fire musical comedy hit, "Angel Face." When Ethelbert, Ann and Casey go to attend the dress rehearsal of the show, they discover the star in her dressing room with a knife in her back. Two people are implicated: Carlos Chaplin, gangster and night club owner, and Eva Carling, understudy to the star. Chaplin has thrown off his former girlfriend and star of the show, Andrea Ballou, for Eva Carling who was promised the lead in the musical comedy by Chaplin if "anything happens to Miss Ballou." In the midst of the investigation of the murder, backstage at the theatre, a 100-lb sand bag thunders down from the catwalk high above the stage, just missing Casey. The mystery then cascades, one thrilling event after the other, until Casey finally pieces together the clues and captures the murderer.

The script is written by Albert Barker. He also wrote scripts for Don Winslow, Terry & the Pirates and other programs.
http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Barker,%20Albert&ArtistNumber=00910
He did some work on Broadway http://www.playbill.com/person/albert-wineman-barker-vault-0000018064
This brief clip dates his radio scripting career as beginning in 1933. It seems he was an early proponent of "standing desks" and would be pleased to know this is very popular today with many adjustable desk products now available.

1947-04-12 Poughkeepsie NY Journal

This is another case of Cole's continuity notes being entered into his document well before broadcast. A character name is changed from "Carlos Chaplin" to "Carlo Chapman" for the broadcast. It's likely because "Carlos Chaplin" was too close to "Charlie Chaplin" the legendary star of the early movie industry. Chaplin was in the news at the time because of various controversies, including personal scandals, accusations of being a Communist, and the release of Monseur Verdoux. The movie was poorly received in the US but did better in Europe. It was nominated for an Oscar for screenplay, and its reputation did improve over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsieur_Verdoux  Changing the name in the script was likely an early and easy editorial decision.

"Angels" refers to investors in Broadway plays. They usually did not make money, but often felt good about supporting the arts and getting some benefits of rubbing shoulders with the producers, actors, directors, and the production crews. The term is still used in venture funding of start-up businesses, but an "angel investor" is very early, when other investors are reluctant, and the involvement includes mentoring of the business founders and often sitting on the board of directors. In the case of this story, the angels are small investors looking for something else.

1:56 Ethelbert calls to Walter for more lemons. No answer.

2:00 Ann says she wants to go home, but her apartment was being painted, and she did not like sleeping with the odor of paint. This becomes an important part of the story's conclusion.

3:20 Ethelbert says he put $100 into the new show, Angel Face. He can get Casey and Ann into a pre-opening preview. That's $1200 in 2020 US dollars.

5:20 Ethelbert leaves the Blue Note! This is a rare occurrence... Casey, Ann, and Ethelbert arrive at the theater.

6:38 Casey tells  Ann to watch her step because of the cables and sand bags overhead -- this sets up the scene where a sand bag nearly hits Casey.

7:45 Casey makes a comment about Carling's hair-do; he refers to it later as a "cocker spaniel hair-do."

8:20 Carling calls Andrea Ballou a "double crossing microbe with a neat pad and a mink coat." (Did I hear that right?). Ethelbert asks "Don't you like her?" Writer Albert Barker seems tuned-in to the tongue-in-cheek style of the Casey series. Carling threatens to "take care of that she-devil."

9:40 Andrea Ballou is found dead... the show won't go on, it seems...

13:20 Chapman identifies the murder weapon as belonging to him.

13:40 In saying what he needs in light of the blonde hair found on the body, Logan says "right now all I want is a blonde." Casey responds "that's all most men want, Logan."

14:37 The sandbag nearly falls on Casey! The cord was cut with a knife! Logan and Casey go up on the roof trying to figure out the escape route of the rope-cutter.

16:18 Casey notices the photos of dancing teams in Chapman's office. One of them is "Blue and Ballou" with Andrea Ballou and a dance partner before she became a solo performer.

16:33 Casey makes a snarky comment after Chapman says he was out for some excercise. Casey asks "up and down fire escapes?" referring to the attempt to kill him moments ago and the escape route... and suggesting it may have been Chapman who dropped the sandbag on Casey.

19:15 Carling admits to having a relationship with Chapman when she implies he has a key to the apartment in a conversation with Ann. Details are revealed later.

19:48 Casey starts to realize "Blue" is Blake, and that Blake has a limp... the scene changes but returns to his conversation at 22:22.

21:25 Blake rings Carling's bell and is finally let in. Scriptwriter Albert Barker continues in the Cole tradition of creative identification of a firearm in the scene with Blake saying "You see this don't ya? It's a lot more effective than a knife." He relates the story of how his dancing career was ended by an accident and he wanted to get revenge on Ballou.


23:10  After watching the apartment building with Logan, Casey leaves.

23:30 Blake keeps spilling his guts to Ann and Carling about the whole story. They're finally interrupted by Logan and Casey breaking down the door. Finally! A fight scene that sounds like a fight scene with no silly commentary!

24:20 An upset Ann is grateful for Casey and Logan barging in that he prevented Blake "from making two more angels out of us," which ties in with the episode title.

26:00 The Blue Note epilogue explains how Blake was crippled by Chapman seven years ago. Ballou and Blake had a contract to be dance partners, but Ballou wanted to pursue her dancing career with Chapman. An "accident" created by Chapman made Blake unable to dance, and the contract became void. When asked why Casey and Logan returned to the scene to save Ann, it turns out that Casey remembered that Ann's apartment was being painted. He thought that Ann might be staying at Carling's apartment, and that's when they realized the danger they were in... and stormed in to save them.

RadioGoldindex lists Peter Capell in the cast. 

1947-11-04 CBS Press Release

Casey 47-11-13 211 Too Many Angels.mp3
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1947-11-13 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-11-13 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-11-13 Scranton PA Times-Tribune

1947-11-06 The Case of the Blonde Lipstick

The Case of the Blonde Lipstick is written by Milton Kramer. This is the first of two weeks with scripts not authored by Cole, likely on vacation. This is a good episode except for a rushed ending. There is a little twist that none of the lead characters are in the final scene of the drama when the criminals are caught by police.

This is one of the few Casey episodes with a title that begins with "The Case of..."

These notes must have been written before broadcast into Cole's documentation. His notes mention the Damon Runyon Memorial Cancer Fund but by the time of broadcast, the charity is genericized to become "the city welfare fund."

There was a fever to raise money at this time for cancer research after Runyon's death in December 1946. The catalyst for the founding of the Fund was Walter Winchell. His efforts went toward the formalizing of the charity into the Fund. It led to another part of broadcasting history, with the first telethon. It was hosted by Milton Berle in 1949.
https://www.damonrunyon.org/
https://www.damonrunyon.org/our-strategy/our-history

Someone at CBS or A-H was likely concerned about the idea of playing up the Fund, and quashed it. I've seen decisions like this before in organizations. What they do for one charity, they might have to do for another, and do not want to be in the business of choosing one disease over another. There was also a sense among many that the best way to offer charity is to do so in private. In this case, they were using the body of the program to support a charity. The Fund effort likely included contributions from CBS already. The support of charities was different than supporting the war effort or veterans, or organizations popular at the time such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts which was accepted more generally. Charities would usually find their support in public service messaging or special programs that were outside the body of sponsored programs. The Casey series under A-H sponsorship almost always mentions support of a charitable cause at the end of each program. At the end of this episode, for example, there is a message about saving food to relieve hunger in war-recovering Europe.  The Runyon Fund had a big and successful year in 1947 with much high-profile support from the movie industry and its stars, and many events around the country. The editorial change in this episode could have occurred for many reasons, and the Fund's great success may have been viewed as jumping aboard a bandwagon when other charities needed support, too.

ADC's continuity notes...

Casey and Ann Williams are involved in a swindle, an income tax evasion, an attempted murder and the Damon Runyon Memorial Cancer Fund in this episode. A beautiful young blonde, Laura Neely, approaches Casey and tells him that she's working for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund every evening after work. If Casey will publicize her, she tells him, it would make her job of collecting money for the Cancer Fund much easier. Casey agrees, and the young lady goes off on her errand of mercy. Laura's boss, Thomas Stevens, calls Casey to tell him that after collecting $10,000 from noted citizens of the town, Laura Neely has disappeared. Casey finds that Laura has bought a brand new convertible, several fur coats and hundreds of dollars worth of clothing. Angry at being duped into being the frontman for a swindler, Casey goes out to look for the blonde but she has disappeared completely. Then a lipstick case and the odor of a strange perfume puts Ann Williams' feminine intuition to work and together with the State Troopers, Casey and Ann stop a swindle, an income tax evasion and an attempted murder.

Which is correct? "Blond" or "Blonde"? Traditionally, "blonde" refers to women, "blond" for men. The reason is that the word originates in French where words have genders and different endings. "Blond" is gradually becoming standard in the US. One of the reasons is that "blonde" has negative connotations such as "dumb blonde."

Despite the change in plot details, the story title may still have a tie to Damon Runyon. In 1927, Runyon was a nationally-known syndicated crime reporter. His accounts of the murder trial of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray in an insurance scam became a book, Eternal Blonde, with "blonde" being used to imply lack of intelligence. The Snyder-Gray story also became the inspiration for the film Double Indemnity. https://robertarood.wordpress.com/category/true-crime-narratives/  This work of Runyon was well-regarded and well-known at the time, and Kramer (or someone else) may have created the show title when the script still had its planned tie-in with the Runyon Fund.

Not much is known about Milton Kramer. It is a common name and hard to search in online data bases. We do know that he wrote for early 1940s comics (Crime Does Not Pay being one of them) and also some episodes of Counterspy, Famous Jury Trials, Nick Carter. Few recordings of his radio work survive. http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Kramer,%20Milton&ArtistNumber=36984

5:33 Neely says she is working for the city welfare fund. This eventually leads to Casey helping the cause by taking pictures of prominent locals making contributions. Ann is skeptical of her motives.

7:31 We learn that Laura left Thomas Stevens office with over $10,000 in cash to deposit in the bank. That's $120,000 in today's 2020 value. Cole loves throwing big dollar figures around... and this Kramer script follows the same pattern. Did Cole edit Kramer's script? Did they discuss show style and detailed aspects of continuity such as the inflation of dollar amounts?

8:45 We're in Boston, not New York as Ann tells Casey to "check the Boston railroad terminals" for the whereabouts of Laura Neely. The nebulous locale of the Casey radio character continues...

15:00 A disgusted Casey become skeptical about the lack of clues that support a larceny scheme and that something else happened to her. He decides to visit Stevens.

16:23 Ann comments about the portrait of Stevens' wife and that she is a beautiful woman. This information is important as his wife was making purchases disguised as Laura to frame her.

18:28 Ann finds the lipstick -- and that it would match Laura's hair coloring but not that of Mrs. Stevens in the picture. This proves that Laura was in the Stevens home at some time. "When something is true, you don't need reason" is what she tells Casey as justifying her assumption it was Laura's lipstick.

21:41 Casey visits Stevens' home again claiming to look for his film case and notices that Stevens has a packed bag ready to travel.

22:15 They realize that the residual fragrance of Laura's perfume is in the couch, and that Laura was must have been there.

22:35 Casey has an idea of what's going on, and to prove his theory about the case he has to prepare a "speech for a tough guy" and then "buy a can of paint." The plot makes a rushed leap forward from here to the conclusion. The amount of time needed for Casey to implement his plan seems like it could take a few hours to do, including coordinating with the police, making it seem implausible for the conclusion to work out as it does. This is another reminder that Casey is a audio comic book, so all things are possible.

22:55 The the final steps of Stevens' nefarious scheme to kidnap and eventually kill Laura plays out. Paula has kept a drugged and bound Laura at their out-of-town summer cabin. We learn that the Stevens are covering up their income tax evasion! Laura had seen the Stevens business books and knew what was going on. Suddenly, the police barge in and arrest him and his co-conspirator before they can kill Laura. Interesting... Casey and Logan are not part of the scene. Listeners have no clue how these events happened until the Blue Note epilogue.

26:15 Laura joins the group at the Blue Note to thank Casey. Happy to be alive, she says to Casey "I could kiss you" and a somewhat jealous Ann says "I was just getting ready to like you." Kramer keeps up the mild romantic tension between Casey and Ann. When Casey said "prepare a speech for a tough guy" he got Burke to authorize use of the Morning Express news plane. The can of paint was to mark the top of Stevens' car to tail him to the cabin without him realizing it. The police got to the cabin because Casey called them via two-way radio from the plane. We have to assume that Casey arranged it with Logan beforehand; the police stepped into the scene much too quickly for it not to be coordinated. It is strange how police are always available on a "drop everything and do this instead" basis.

Casey 47-11-06 210 The Case of the Blonde Lipstick UPGRADE.mp3
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Note the inconsistencies of "blonde" and "blond" in the newspaper clippings. Different editors were of different minds as to which spelling was correct.

1947-11-06 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-11-06 Corpus Christi TX Caller-Times


1947-11-06 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-11-06 Miami FL News


1947-11-06 Shreveport LA Times

1947-10-30 Great Grandfather's Rent Receipt

Great Grandfather's Rent Receipt may be the worst Casey show ever broadcast. It's about Casey's grandfather back in Ireland with a twist for Halloween. If you're looking for our usual detective story and a murder and a photographer and a bumbling police captain and a bartender who mangles philosophy or the English language or both, you're looking in the wrong place this time.

This was adapted from a Witch's Tale script Procrastinatin' Willie's Rent Receipt that was produced on 1931-12-21 and 1935-07-10. Cole had this in his back pocket and decided to pull it out of and use it for this broadcast. Maybe someone said "gee, maybe you can build a script around Halloween." So he did, to the detriment of all involved. This is not to say it's not a cute story. But it can be cute somewhere else.

Cole wrapped the usual Casey episode elements around what seems to be a mainly intact Witch's Tale core. The story emerges out of a conversation at the Blue Note, is re-capped mid-show, with the usual Blue Note-based epilogue.

The story appears to be built around an Irish legend, and recounted in Wandering Willie's Tale by Sir Walter Scott in 1824. It was part of a larger work, Redgauntlet. Wandering Willie is a fiddler, just like Casey's grandfather. This link has more details about the work and others: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/wandering-willies-tale
Cole's interest in the supernatural, which we know from Witch's Tale, probably led him to be quite familiar with the original story.

This is the most forgettable, and perhaps most unfortunate, Casey episodes in the entire series. Sure, there are bad episodes (such as Thunderbolt from the Philip Morris series). This episode just serves no useful purpose. It wastes the talents of radio great Karl Swenson in the process. It wastes the time of listeners. Shame on you, Alonzo Deen Cole. Shame on you, producer John Dietz for letting this happen. I bet the Anchor-Hocking executives were really thrilled with this one. Do not let anyone you're trying to interest in OTR get close to this recording. Friends don't let friends listen to Great Grandfather's Rent Receipt.

A clue to a possible reason for shortchanging the listeners is that the next two weeks are scripts by other writers followed by a repeated 1946 Cole script. Perhaps Cole was going on vacation?

Detailing the story as usually done here is fruitless because it's not a true Casey episode. The only insight we get is that Casey always asks for receipts on Halloween. But there is a summary in ADC's notes.

ADC continuity notes...

Casey's great grandfather, Patrick, was known (prior to a memorable All Hallow's Eve) as one of the greatest idlers in Ireland. One night when Patrick, and his practical fiancee, Molly, are on their way to pay the quarter's rent on Pat's run-down little farm, easy-going Pat spends most of the evening playing jig-tunes on his beloved fiddle. When they arrive late at the castle of the irate landowner, Sir Timothy O'Hare, he reads the riot act to Pat for being late. Pat meekly pays the rent to Sir Tim but is afraid to ask the lord for a receipt. Practical Molly steps up and demands Pat's due, but before she can get the receipt, Sir Tim is suddenly stricken with a heart attack and dies. The rent money mysteriously disappears and Pat is faced with the payment of double rent on his farm, and because he can't meet the payment, disgrace in the community. Then, on All Hallow's Eve, wandering disconsolate and alone with his ever-present fiddle, Pat gets a ghostly call that takes him to the infernal presence of Sir Tim's ghost. Then things begin to happen -- Pat gets a new lease on life and a rent receipt written on asbestos from Sir Tim.

In ADC's notes, the word "idlers" refers to lazy people.

Patrick was played by Karl Swenson, one of the most successful radio actors ever, with respectable careers in movies, television, and theater. The only blemish in his career is starring in Mr. Chameleon for Frank and Anne Hummert :)   (There are some Mr. Chameleon fans who have made it clear it was their favorite program in the late 40s and early 50s; only 2 episodes are known to exist)

RadioGoldindex http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Swenson,%20Karl&ArtistNumber=30137
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0842425/
Playbill http://www.playbill.com/person/karl-swenson-vault-0000048390

Molly was played by Kathy MacGregor
RadioGoldindex http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=MacGregor,%20Kathy&ArtistNumber=30284
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0532339/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Casey 47-10-30 209 Great Grandfather's Rent Receipt UPGRADE.mp3
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1947-10-30 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette

We do have to remember that we are reviewing these episodes 72+ years after their broadcast. A radio editor at the Akron OH Beacon Journal, Bee Offineer, found the broadcast to be a nice change of pace.

1947-11-02 Akron OH Beacon Journal

Offineer was an award-winner radio critic who unfortunately passed away after a long illness about two years after this column excerpt was published. She was only 34 years old.

1947-10-23 Lady in Distress

Lady in Distress is a run-of-the-mill Casey episode, enjoyable and entertaining, but nothing that makes it stand out. Parts of the script are not really believable, which makes it fitting that it was one of those selected to be adapted in the Casey comic book. It appeared in issue #3 as Damsel in Distress.

This episode has circulated as The Lady in Distress, but the ADC notes indicate there is no "the" in the title.

ADC continuity notes...

"Barbecue Tom" Morrissey, a Texas cowboy currently appearing in the big city' s annual rodeo has been abruptly accosted by a young and beautiful blonde Southern belle with a rich accent who tells him her life is in danger and she needs protection and - a hundred dollars. At the railroad terminal, where he takes her, she leaves him and is lost in the crowds after promising to meet him on the following day. She doesn't appear at the rendezvous and Tom, concerned only about her safety, indignantly rejects the suggestion that he has been the victim of a common and petty racket. Casey takes him to the Express "morgue" where Tom finds a picture of "Mary Belle." To Casey's great surprise, the girl of the photograph is a socially prominent Southern heiress. The mystery deepens when Casey learns that the girl has been recently appearing as a singer in a public clip joint. Casey and Tom learn that Mary Belle was kidnapped shortly after she left Tom in the terminal and that, not long before she appealed to the cowboy for protection, a fight occurred in the club where she sang, between a wealthy South American playboy and a stranger who cannot be identified. The description of his opponent, the unidentified stranger, and the memory of another similar quarrel that previously occurred in Bannister's place provides Casey with a clue that eventually leads him to a solution of the exciting mystery.

3:05 Ann relates a story at Pink Bannister's club that plays an important part of the story.

4:19 Before Morrisey relates the story of meeting "Mary Belle," Casey says "When it comes to women, I don't know from nothin'." The $100 Tom gives to "Mary Belle" is worth $1200 in today's 2020 dollars. We learn later that she asked for that much to be sure he looked for her if something bad happened to her.

9:48 We learn that Mary Belle Watson used the name "Lottie Dunbar" when she worked as the singer at Pink Bannister's club.

11:30 Pink tells one of his guys to follow Casey, Ann, and Tom and report back to him about where they go and to whom they speak about Mary Belle's disappearance. This leads to a car chase.

13:58 Casey spots Pink's bouncer getting into a car. Casey wants to be sure that he's being tailed. Casey develops a ruse to find out what Pink's man knows.

15:09 Casey purposely slams on the brakes going around a turn, Pink's bouncer misses the turn and goes into a ditch. The sound effects are not particularly good here, and the bouncer seems much too lucid after driving into a ditch in an air-bag-less and seat-belt-less vehicle where you can be thrown across the front seat or into the steering wheel. It doesn't make sense... but the story must move on...

17:42 Gallo starts spilling what he knows to Casey and Tom. He admits to killing someone at Pink Bannister's club. Casey doesn't believe Gallo's story, thinking he was framed by Bannister. Casey has a plan to make Bannister admit to the crime.

23:05 The police raid Bannister's club. Casey reveals the plot after they see the man Gallo supposedly killed is actually alive. Bannister was going to blackmail Gallo for a murder that didn't happen, like he had others. Tom and Mary Belle are re-united.

25:38 Casey ties up loose ends at the Blue Note. Mary Belle's brother was being blackmailed by Bannister, so she took a job in the club to learn what she could so she could learn what she could to expose Bannister.

Casey 47-10-23 208 Lady in Distress UPGRADE.mp3
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1947-10-23 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-10-23 Miami FL News

Here's page one of the comic book story from issue #3. The comic book lasted only four issues.

1947-10-16 The Camera Bug

The Camera Bug is one of the better entries in the series, with a detailed and believable plot that does not test the listener's patience. This is as close as the Casey series gets to a Call Northside 777 storyline, where a photo has the clue to the crime... and Casey didn't even take the picture! We also get a chance to see Casey's generosity to someone starting in the business, even as he alerts them to how tough it can be.

This is a repeated script from 1944-04-15 It's a Dog's Life.

ADC continuity notes...

Alan Forster, a young, likeable camera enthusiast, comes to Casey for advice as to how he can break into the highly competitive field of press photography. Casey, in a sour, glum mood, tries to discourage the boy but finally suggests he start as a free lance photographer on his own time. Casey promises to help market any news pictures that Alan may get. Later Casey and Ann are assigned to cover the daylight murder, on a crowded street, of Max Blake, a disreputable criminal lawyer. Young Forster was a witness to the killing and snapped several on-the-spot pictures which Casey tries to persuade his city editor to buy; the latter wants the hot news pictures but refuses to pay what they are worth, so Casey tells the boy to accept a better offer he has received from a rival paper. Then young Forster disappears. Casey finds the clue to his disappearance in the copies of the murder pictures the camera bug has given him, but when he and Ann start to follow their lead, they run into immediate trouble. Nevertheless, Casey rescues the boy, who has been kidnapped, and pins the murder of Blake on a man who had been entirely unsuspected.

Continuity notes from the 1944-04-15 broadcast...

A kid trying to break into newspaper photography as a career is advised by Casey to carry his camera everywhere and try for a lucky shot which he can sell to the papers. He does get a picture of a killing and is kidnapped by the killer. Casey tracks him down and effects the usual rescue.

How old is Alan Forster? He's 21... and newly married... yet ADC uses "boy" to describe him. Clearly a man, Cole may use "boy" in his notes to convey some innocence about Forster's character to someone reading the plotline.

"Camera bug" as used in this episode is obsolete. At the time, it meant anyone who was enthusiastic about their photographic skills, mainly as a hobby. The phrase started in the early 1900s and gradually fell into disuse through the century. Today, "camera bug" usually refers to a hidden surveillance device.

The running gag line in the show is that "it's a dog's life being a..." and each major character inserts their profession somewhere in the story. Ethelbert starts with the complaint about "it's a dog's life being a bartender." As the story progresses, we find out the same can be said about a police captain and a newspaper photographer. The phrase refers to someone who is in miserable circumstances. This is the explanation at https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+dog%27s+life

The term has been traced to Erasmus, who pointed out the wretched subservient existence of dogs in the mid-sixteenth century, as well as to the seventeenth-century proverb, “It’s a dog’s life, hunger and ease.” It was certainly a cliché by the time Rudyard Kipling (A Diversity of Creatures, 1899) wrote, “Politics are not my concern. . . . They impressed me as a dog’s life without a dog’s decencies.”

There is also more information at http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-its1.htm

The way home-kept dogs live today is nothing like that of dogs from the time when the idiom was created. Dogs have pretty cushy lives in most homes, full of affection, steady meals designed around canine nutrition, and regular veterinary care, especially in post-WW2 home life. The phrase has lost its original meaning, and has fallen out of use because the context for it no longer applies.

Cole likes having amusing themes like this one running parallel through the main aspects of the story. They help to create dialogue and link scenes and characters, keeping listeners engaged. Cole uses it eight times.
2:48 Casey describes the downside aspects of news photography
3:56 Casey reiterates the "dog's life" warning
5:49 A minute or so after Ethelbert says he wishes he could be in a job where he could take time off in the middle of the afternoon, Casey and Ann run out of the Blue Note to get to a crime scene and don't pay their tab! It's at this moment when Ethelbert utters the "dog's life" phrase.
11:48 Logan, about the amount of work cops need to do to solve cases.
15:13 Casey says working in newspapers is a dog's life and Forster should take his pictures to The Globe.
15:46 Casey says it again, because when you freelance you need to find the highest bidder for your work.
26:50 Casey says it again, but this time because Forster has taken a freelance assignment with Burke, and now knows full well the dog's life aspect of the job.
27:00 Ethelbert quotes his sister Edna.

Now, the key points of the episode...

1:42 Forster visits Casey -- sounds like the staging and microphone settings are not right. Casey uses "camera bug" in a disparaging manner.

4:56 Ethelbert says he has to answer the phone as part of his job... and then the phone rings! It's not a missed cue, though it may sound that way.

8:26 Cole plants a clue: a hidden elevator in the building across the street from the murder that Ann and Casey know about from a prior case they were assigned to. He weaves other details into the dialogue, especially that the owner, Klegel, has his office on the third floor.

9:45 Forster enters the scene and says he was a witness, and he got photos of Blake's murder. He wants Casey to have them; Casey offers processing advice.

11:30 The murder gun is of a caliber (.38) different than those of the guns of Blake's companions.

13:24 Forster is back to visit Casey with the crime photos. Says that he was offered $200 for the pictures (in today's value, $2400... Cole always puffs up the values). Casey thinks the pictures are worth showing to Burke, who offers $100. Casey says Forster should take his pictures to The Globe and get his $200. Casey asks for copies of the pictures... will they help solve the crime? Yet again, are we in New York or Boston? The Boston Globe was the leading newspaper there, and was highly regarded, nationwide.

16:20 Back at the Blue Note, Casey is so upset about Burke turning down Forster's photos, he say's he'd go over to work at The Globe for Curtis, their city editor. It just so happens that Curtis walks into the Blue Note at that time. The Forster story starts to unravel... Forster never went to The Globe... he has no idea who Forster is!

17:30 Forster's wife calls the Blue Note and asks Casey if he knows where he is. Their apartment has been burglarized... and Forster is missing! Someone wants the pictures, but Casey has his copies.

19:08 Casey realizes that the pictures hold the clue to the story. In progression, the pictures show an open first floor window, a closed first floor window, and no one at the third floor window. Klegel shot Blake, ran up to the third floor using the steps, then rang for the elevator, and the elevator operator became his alibi for the shooting. (Elevator operator is an obsolete job, but there are many buildings in New York City that still have them as part of union contracts; many of the jobs are either eliminated by attrition or retirement, or combined with building security or other jobs). Klegel is the only person who knows about the pictures, and Forster's offer for the pictures by The Globe was actually a ruse created by Klegel. Klegel needs the negatives, so Forster has been kidnapped. The entire story, motive through commission, is related by Casey less than two minutes in dialogue with Ann.

20:50 "There's a gun in this pocket" is what Klegel says when he confronts Casey and forces them to drive to a warehouse that Klegel owns, they are holding Forster.

21:20 "That gun makes you boss" Casey reiterates the presence of the firearm.

22:25 Forster is found tied up, and affirms he was duped. Klegel threatens to kill all three of them and disposing of their bodies in the river.

23:35 Casey is getting the pictures out of his case but picks up a flash bulb and forces it into the face of Klegel's henchman, and a fight, with comic-book-like commentary as to its progress, ensues.

25:40 We finally learn why Klegel killed Blake (tired of paying blackmail). Forster's work gets him a freelance arrangement with Burke.

27:00 Ethelbert quotes sister Edna about a dog's life. Ann asks Ethelbert to give Casey a "Fido biscuit," as she's tired of hearing about the dog's life aspect of his work.

Here's an ad for a photo shop that uses "camera bug."

1947-10-14 St Louis MO Star & Times

Casey 47-10-16 207 The Camera Bug UPGRADE.mp3
Degoo https://cloud.degoo.com/e/drive-mzf4n1ttfrkk
hubiC http://ovh.to/TpaAF6s

1947-10-16 Asheville NC Citizen-Times


1947-10-16 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-10-16 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-10-16 Miami FL News


1947-10-16 Ottawa ON Citizen

1947-10-09 Wedding Breakfast

Wedding Breakfast is a simpler story than Miscarriage of Justice and not as good. ADC's continuity notes make it seem much more interesting than it actually is... and it basically ends with a theme well-known by any kid who went to school and had a dog... yes, "my dog ate my homework"... or in this case, a string of very expensive pearls. And the story ends with a tired mystery story cliche about who the perpetrator is (it was tired in 1947, 73 years ago!). Overall, it's a mediocre entry in the series, but has some small smirk-worthy moments.

ADC continuity...

Acting on a tip that the young heiress, Sylvia Loomis, has secretly married Rene DuPaville, a ladies man of dubious antecedent and reputation. Casey and Ann go to the latter's apartment on the morning after the alleged wedding, for confirmation of the story. As they approach his door, a woman whom Casey recognizes as Mrs. Fred Gardner, wife of a wealthy businessman, hastily leaves the apartment and runs down the stairs. According to gossip, Mrs. Gardner is one of the many women who has been infatuated with the handsome DuPaville. Receiving no answer when he rings the doorbell, Casey opens the unlocked door and finds the living room in wild disorder. Obviously a drinking party has taken place there. In the bedroom Casey finds the corpse of DuPaville. The man has been bludgeoned to death with a bronze statuette of Venus, Goddess of Love. Lying in the bed in a drunken stupor and with blood-stained hands is Artie Mason, a wealthy playboy who was once engaged to Sylvia. Yet the bride of a few hours is not in the apartment and from evidence found, he left it very hastily at some time during the course of the drunken orgy that was to have been her wedding breakfast. During the investigation of the murder and the incidents that lead up to it, Casey, Ann and the Homicide Bureau's Captain Logan encounter some strange and sinister characters who inhabit the hectic half-world of cafe society; and they find themselves momentarily lost in some dark and dangerous blind alleys. But at the end of this thrilling drama, they find the true surprising solution of the crime.

00:18 The show starts with comment that even though it's the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, no one knows the name of Mrs. O'Leary's cow, but everyone knows the name Anchor-Hocking. The previous episode included a mention of it at the close, so it is likely Cole was working on the two scripts were being worked on at the same time. Cole enjoyed history, and probably had a directory of event anniversaries that provided a quick way to come up with one of the corny A-H opening skits when pressed for time. This is still a resource that professional speakers use when preparing their speeches and presentations.

2:35 Jimmy "the Hackie" calls with a story lead for Casey. A hacker is a taxi driver. The way he says "hair-ess" for heiress is another Cole theme of common people attempting to sound sophisticated. Hacker is derived from "hackney cab," which referred to a carriage for hire drawn by a hackney, or an ordinary horse. The term dates back to middle English. Just like "car" is from "carriage," "hack" comes from "hackney."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_horse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage
The word has changed over the years, and "hack" can also mean mean "writer for hire," especially if their work is not particularly outstanding, and the word "hackneyed" which means "cliche-ridden." (Remember, when you are writing, be sure to avoid cliches like the plague). In recent decades, "hacker" has come to mean a "computer nerd," especially one who knows how to bypass various aspects of programs to get them to work in an unintended manner.

3:14 Jimmy sets the stage for the episode, introducing all the characters. He says they went "over the border to Fieldston." Cole, living close to the Bronx, would have known this area, an exclusive section of the Bronx. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieldston,_Bronx  Lou Gehrig lived in the neighborhood for his final two years, and died in this home https://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_guerra/5650028255  I'm familiar with the area as an alumnus of Manhattan College, which borders this area. The area had an interesting way of limiting car traffic to residents only: they left the roads in disrepair and riddled with potholes... on purpose...

3:27 Jimmy's language is hilarious as he says the bride wanted to "welch on the ball-and-chain idea." Yes, that means "having second thoughts about the impending marriage."

6:00 Casey wants to enter the DuPaville apartment, and Ann says "Casey, we have no right to..." and he interrupts her "We'll take the right" because the door is open. Casey always has a sense of acting now and apologizing later, and that he can eventually get away with things because he's tight with Logan. He doesn't know it's a crime scene yet until they stumble on DuPaville's body.

7:52 Casey answers the door, "Horseshoe" Larkin asking to see DuPaville. Casey shows him the body and Mason. Larkin realizes Casey's a photographer.

9:15 Larkin wants to straighten a picture on the wall -- says he can't stand "seeing things crooked." Cole plants a clue for the solution -- there's a safe behind it, we learn later.

10:10 Waldo, the butler for DuPaville arrives. He brings dog food with him for DuPaville's spaniel. Remember this, and that dogs will sometimes eat anything. https://art-sheep.com/20-x-rays-of-weird-and-shocking-things-dogs-have-swallowed/
https://barkpost.com/discover/dogs-eat-strange-things/

13:55 The crew learns about the wall safe behind the picture. Logan and Casey decide to talk to Larkin. He says he was was owed $50,000 by DuPaville ($600,000), who asked if he would accept a pearl  necklace was claimed to be worth $75,000 -- that's $900,000 in today's dollars -- in payment. Larkin knew about the all safe because of other cash payments to cover bets, and that it was behind the picture.

16:25 Loomis and Mrs. Gardner were found. Loomis took poison and was in the hospital and can't be questioned. Gardner was being held at police headquarters for questioning. She knew about the debts, and it was her pearl necklace that was going to be used to pay the debt.

19:54 Blue Note breakfast recap of the story. Loomis learned that Gardner was with DuPaville before the wedding, so that's why she was reluctant to marry... and why she poisoned herself.

21:49 There's noise in the audience with some muffled coughing.

22:30 Larkin is at Casey's apartment because he believes Casey has the pearls (he doesn't) and he asks for money... they start a fight, and knocks out Larkin. He calls Logan to go back to the DuPaville apartment to look for the pearls.

23:48 Waldo returns to the apartment because he's concerned about the dog... Casey and Logan are already there. The cocker spaniel is dead... Waldo had poisoned him with the dog food and... the pearls! When he was told the dog would have an autopsy, he confessed. And yes... the butler did it.

If you don't think a dog would eat pearls is a crazy part of this episode, here's a story from the 1904-02-21 Philadelphia Inquirer

Casey 47-10-09 206 Wedding Breakfast UPGRADE.mp3
Degoo https://cloud.degoo.com/e/drive-gx90dipdo2ee
hubiC http://ovh.to/kB9HnDP

1947-10-09 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-10-09 Ottawa ON Citizen


1947-10-09 Scranton PA Times-Tribune

This particular wedding didn't work out as expected... but if you need a wedding gift for a happy couple, perhaps you can buy this...

1947-10-12 Boston MA Globe
Less than $6!! In today's dollars, it's $72 -- still a bargain!

1947-10-02 Miscarriage of Justice

Miscarriage of Justice is about a murder case that partly relies on the misidentification of a corpse found in the river. Today's DNA technology would prevented this aspect of the case that justified what turned out to be a wrongful conviction. Cole may not have been able to use this as a plot element today. It would be interesting, but obviously impossible, to learn what Alonzo Deen Cole would have done with his plotlines with modern police methods. It was not until 1986 that DNA technology was used in a criminal investigation. That's almost forty years after this broadcast.

This is one of the better Casey episodes with some very entertaining characterization, and also some use of accents and ethnic emotion that might be considered borderline acceptable today, though they enrich the story and the emotion is justified. It's a good story, and Cole uses a police press conference to lay out the details of his plotline.

ADC continuity notes...

On circumstantial evidence, Carlos Domingo had been sentenced to die for the murder of his wife, Mercedes. After spending many months in the death house, his sentence was commuted to life in prison and he served nearly ten years. Then Mercedes Domingo was found to be very much alive. Carlos was released from prison with apologies and a trifling compensation of several thousand dollars. Soon afterwards, Mercedes is found carved to death with a razor. The general opinion is that there can be no mistake about the identity of her murderer this time; apparently her bitter husband has been the assassin. Knowing he cannot be tried again for a crime which the machinery of justice has already required him to pay for, Carlos does not even bother to deny his guilt; but neither does he affirm it. Casey, disagreeing with the circumstantial evidence that links Carlos to the present crime (as years ago he disagreed with that which resulted in the man's conviction) begins a personal investigation that brings him into unpleasant contact with a sinister character known as Alf the Barber, and that leads him and Ann into a complex maze of underworld intrigue, frenzied high finance and ever-present danger. At the end of the maze Casey makes an unexpected discovery that delivers the real murderer to justice - and this time there can be no miscarriage or mistake.

1:45 Mercedes Domingo is identified in the street as still being alive by Carlos Domingo's father. The foundation of the plotline begins with the interaction with a street cop.

2:50 Police press conference summarizes the original case. Cole uses this to set up a complex set of facts for the story. Listen carefully to keep track of the characters and the context. The waiter "known as Gonzalez" is introduced. The character does not appear again until late in the show. A body was discovered in the river and identified as Mercedes; Casey says the body was in the water a long time; DNA tests would have proved it was not Mercedes, but they were obviously not available at the time. We never find out whose body it was, so it is just a plot element. There is no indication that the body as there by any act of Mercedes or Gonzalez, so finding the body seems to be a random "lucky" event that makes her disappearance and Carlos' murder charge more credible.

4:48 Mercedes never got a divorce and married Albert Jenkins, "Alf the Barber." Jenkins stands to inherit a substantial estate from Mercedes.

5:16 "Goodnight, Mrs. Wheelbracker" opens the Blue Note scene, the first time her name has been heard (in a circulating recording) since the September 1946 episode Duke of Skid Row.

5:57 Mercedes may be clear of a bigamy charge due to a statute of limitations technicality of being assumed dead after a certain number of years.

9:20 After Carlos says he wants to have a quiet life after the false conviction, Cole gives us a big emotional set up at the prison press conference: Carlos' father says he wants to see Mercedes Domingo dead... and moments later in the program, she is found murdered in her hotel room.

11:55 Casey, Ann, and Logan are at the morgue with Mercedes body. Cole tells us how vicious it was when Logan says to Ann "I told you not to look." The killing was done with a barber's razor, implying that it was Alf the Barber's. The main suspects are Carlos, his father, and Al Jenkins.

12:39 Logan makes an important comment about a burnt paper collar being found in the fireplace. He also makes a comment about the murder of Mercedes as a revenge killing.

14:13 Ann says Carlos can't be convicted of a crime he's already served time for and been pardoned. Logan utters a Star Trek Dr. McCoy-esque line: "That's for the lawyers to argue out. I'm just a cop with a murder to solve. Let's go."

14:30 The usual parade of suspects are interrogated at police headquarters. One of the reasons Cole uses these scenes is to recap and reinforce the story for the audience and sometimes to introduce some new facts. These interrogations usually fail, underscore the confusion of the police, and create a way to make Casey look like a genius.

17:05 Ann and Casey realize that none of the suspects are likely, but they would each be pleased that the murder happened because of the way Mercedes treated them. Casey suspects that the only person who could have access to Mercedes' hotel room was a waiter or other hotel personnel. Casey thinks a paper dickey that was burned in the fireplace was from the killer in his disguise. Dickeys are not used as often as they were then, but they are still available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_(garment). Casey believes that the man Mercedes left Carlos for ...Gonzalez ... had been a waiter when she disappeared. Casey has a picture of Gonzalez from Carlos' lawyer.

18:50 Casey and Ann go to employment agencies looking for a waiter -- the thirteenth one they visit recognizes the picture of Gonzalez as "Frank Gomez." Casey tips the employment agency "two sawbucks" which is $240 in today's value. The fast-talking agent characterization is quite funny with flim-flam overacting. The actor playing the agent flubs the pronunciation "Gomez" at first but catches himself. It adds a sense of detachment to the character as shallow and not really caring about the people he works with, and it is possible it was scripted.

21:05 Casey and Ann find Gonzalez in his apartment. He admits he is Gomez and confesses the killing. When Mercedes disappeared, they hid in the city while Carlos was on trial and then she went away to hide. When she stopped writing to him, and he sought her and found she had left him, too. This killing was revenge for what she had done to him and the heartache he had over participating in the framing of Carlos.

23:20 Jenkins bursts in the room and Casey says "What are you doing here, Jenkins?... and why that gun?" Cole gives us a firearm almost as a throwaway line.

24:50 Gonzalez prevents Casey from being shot by Jenkins... and dies... and believes his saving Casey, an innocent man, redeems him for his role in the conviction of Carlos and his revenge killing of Mercedes.

27:05 In the usual Blue Note recap, Carlos Domingo will inherit Mercedes' estate because letters found in the hotel room detailed the scheme. The show ends with Ethelbert's mangling the phrase "femme fatale" (he says "femmy faytilly") with a joke about Mrs. O'Leary's cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Background about Mrs. O'Leary can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_O%27Leary  A news reporter had made the story up, but the poor woman died heartbroken because people attributed the horrible event to her.

RadioGoldindex lists Joe DeSantis in the cast. 

Casey 47-10-02 205 Miscarriage of Justice UPGRADE.mp3
Degoo https://cloud.degoo.com/e/drive-iqntd-9fjki3
hubiC http://ovh.to/veYsZqW

1947-10-02 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-10-02 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-10-02 Miami FL News

1947-09-25 Treasure Cave

Treasure Cave has circulated under different names over the years, such as "The Treasure Cave" and also as "Treasure Cove." It's definitely "Treasure Cave." Last time Casey was underground was for the Demon Miner episode. Mines, of course, are planned man-made "caves," while Treasure Cave is a natural formation. Nefarious things can happen in either situation. This is an average Casey episode of its time with some stereotypes in characterization and dialogue that would not be used today. The underlying plotline is typical but a little complicated, hence I have more notes. The story is built around trying to inherit an asset so it can be exploited in a different manner than if someone else inherited it, especially if someone else purchased it before it could be inherited. Treasure Cave promises to be a more exciting story than it turns out to be.

ADC continuity notes...

Casey is assigned to investigate a natural cave which is haunted and in which several mysterious deaths have occurred. According to legend, pirate treasure is hidden in the cave under the care of ghostly guardians who strike down too curious explorers in a vaulted chamber called "The Spirit's Temple." The last man who died there, a local archeologist, was apparently drowned -- yet the spirit's chamber in which he is found is far removed from water. A previous victim, according to the evidence, was killed by an ancient seaman's cutlass. "Treasure Cave," a comparatively small cavern eroded and ruined by the sea, lacks the attraction of such beautiful river-created caverns as Luray Mannough [see note below] and Carlsbad, so it is not a mecca for tourists. It is situated on property owned by a retired broker, Basil Lefton, and supervised by Donald Ramsey, recently an Army Sergeant. The guide who conducts Casey and Ann Williams thru the "Treasure Cave" is a superstitious oldster known as "Injun Sam." Casey and Ann do not find their investigation of "Treasure Cave" a pleasant task. Luminous eyes glare at them from the darkness; leering dead men try to block their way and the true spirit of "Treasure Cave" makes its appearance. With mounting tension, the eerie drama moves swiftly to its unexpected climax.

"Injun" was an acceptable word in the era of the broadcast, but is considered to be an insult nowadays.

ADC's notes mention Luray and Carlsbad...
Luray Caverns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luray_Caverns
Carlsbad Caverns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park
and I suspect there's a typo in the continuity notes, probably from handwriting that could not be deciphered -- "Mannough" should be "Mammoth"
Mammoth Cave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park

1:50 Casey and Logan are going up to Red Lake to fish since their days off match up. Hearkening back to the episode where Ethelbert said he did not get past McGuffy's Fourth Reader, so he mentions that Jonah was the fisherman who caught a whale and the whale's name was "Moby Dick." Logan gets upset when he realizes the trip will include Casey and Ann working on the murders in Treasure Cave.

4:56 Logan describes a key detail of the murders: they were being done using ancient weapons from the pirate era. Cole also used the ancient weapon idea in Mysterious Lodger of just a few weeks ago.

6:07 Logan says he can't get mixed up in the case because it's out of his jurisdiction, but he will go along as long as his professional position is not mentioned when they are there. Casey has great fun in the episode describing to others why Logan is along, usually making it some subservient position.

7:26 Ann complains how Casey and Logan extend "no fish" into an hour long discussion. This sets up the closing comment by Logan at the conclusion of the body of the story.

8:19 Ida Leftin introduces herself, and she introduces them to her brother as "the newspaper people." Her brother doesn't seem pleased. When Casey introduces Logan, the script purposely has him start saying "Captain" and catching himself in mid-word.

10:13 The land that included Treasure Cave is not for sale, but a bidder keeps upping the offer. Cole reveals a key part of the mystery. Leftin says the victims had nothing in common, and Casey says the permission they got from Leftin to see the cave is what they have in common -- Cole plants a seed for an upcoming scene.

14:35 Injun Sam is described as a big, muscular man, who once killed someone but was pardoned. Cole sends audience enough information for Sam as a possible suspect.

15:00 Logan says hello to Sam by saying "How." This is a stereotypical Indian greeting, with limited historical and geographic basis for its actual use. It was popularized by novels by James Fenimore Cooper and, of course, in movies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_(greeting)  Sam is also played here as a grunting, low vocabulary, laconic character. That would not play well today.

17:49 They reach the "Spirit's Temple." To get the drowned victim there, Logan says the murderer must have been big and strong to carry the body, another reason to cast suspicion on Sam because there was no place with water for someone to drown in. Sam says the spirit can make water appear, which Logan does not believe. The path they took to the cave was too narrow for a big person to use, which means that Sam could not have done it... unless there was a different passage. This is Cole's first hint that there may be another entry.

19:50 They stumble on yet another body, with an arrow through its throat. It's the Sheriff! It's an "old Indian arrow" according to Injun Sam. Did the killer an arrow to implicate Sam? Did Sam "discover" the body to appear innocent?

21:15 Casey, Ann, and Logan decide to return to visit Leftin, realizing that every person who was murdered received his permission to go into the cave. As they ride in the boat with Ramsey, he says that he took all of the murdered to the cave and turned them over to Injun Sam. Does Ramsey want them to think Sam is the murderer? When they talk to Sam, he denies it, and says they wanted to be alone (22:30) but he gave them lanterns. Casey asks for the same.

23:30 Ida surprises them. Cole announced the presence of the gun by having Casey say "You're armed with a very modern weapon this time, Miss Leftin." It turns out there is a secret passage near the Leftin house that goes into the cave. She brought a gun this time because she may have to kill Casey, Ann, and Logan, but admits to the other murders.

24:30 Ida wants to turn the cave into a tourist attraction, so she has been thwarting the interests of those who want to sell or own the cave by killing them or by convincing others that the cave is cursed.

25:08 After the Casey, Ann, and Logan subdue Ida, together, in mid-explanation and confession, Logan says "When a woman starts to talk, you just gotta stop her." Did he really say that? In 1947, he did! When he did say it, Ann was holding Ida's gun. Hmmmm... I wonder if Logan would think differently about what he said

26:52 Ethelbert neglects to include Ann in the group that solved the case. Hmmmm... again. Logan makes his remark about women before the commercial break, and now Ethelbert says this! I wonder how Ann really feels about this snub! He says another mildly insulting thing at 27:25 when Ethelbert says women talk to much. Ann responds that Casey and Logan are still away "not catching fish," and since they're unsuccessful at that, all they're doing is "talking, talking, talking"!

Casey 47-09-25 204 Treasure Cave UPGRADE.mp3
Degoo https://cloud.degoo.com/e/drive-zvlqs1m1sdst
hubiC http://ovh.to/xNQp2Z

1947-09-25 Cincinnati OH Enquirer


1947-09-25 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


1947-09-25 Atlanta GA Constitution
This is an ad; note the name of the series. Technically, the name of the series is "Crime Photographer," but the series name in practical use came about because of the way the program was announced. In the official paperwork, the line is "...adventures of Casey, 'Crime Photographer'" so it is easy to see how the name in common use became what it was and what we call it.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1947-09-22 Cincinnati OH Enquirer
The new production technique in the news

1947-09-18 The Tobacco Pouch

Tobacco Pouch is another example of how Alonzo Deen Cole created eccentric characters as key elements of plotlines, making the Casey series entertaining to a broad audience of listeners. The show was its best when it did not take itself too seriously. The combination of quirky characters and improbable events did not always work, but it gave the series a lighthearted comic book style that was well executed during the Anchor-Hocking run. This may not be a top episode, but is definitely much better than average and a good example of the multiple elements of plot, dialogue, characters, humor, and paradox that coalesced to create the program's general appeal.

ADC continuity notes...

Ann has a reluctant Casey in tow on a shopping tour in a large department store. The lensman takes a new lease on life when he spots a little man, carrying a big umbrella, lift a necklace from a costume-jewelry counter. Casey watches the little man, sees him approach a man whose right arm is in a sling and pick the man's pocket. The little man slips away; Casey tips off the pickpocket victim and chases after the culprit. When Casey catches up with the little man, he finds the big umbrella contains all sorts of store merchandise and a tobacco pouch -- the property of Mr. Arm-in-Sling. Casey and the store detective lock the shoplifter into a small room, and Casey goes to return the tobacco to Arm-in-sling. He's nowhere to be found! Then Casey is berated by the store manager. The little shoplifter, he says, is Wilmer Karig, a well-to-do kleptomaniac whose family has arranged to pay the store for whatever has been lifted. They return to the room where Karig is waiting and find the door unlocked and Karig unconscious, his pockets turned inside out. They restore him, and he tells them that Arm-in-Sling, now without the sling, was the attacker. Shots are heard and they rush out to find Ann-in-Sling shot to death. Casey opens the tobacco pouch. It contains only a hotel-room key. Casey follows the trail indicated by the key and runs into a suspense-filled maze of robbery, betrayal, intrigue and murder. Though his life is in serious jeopardy, Casey clings fast to the trail until he solves the mystery of the tobacco pouch.

On the surface, this might be considered silly show with the odd character “Wilmer Karig.” Cole used this system often, as mentioned earlier. This method of plot creation may be why the program faltered in later years as listeners tired of the format and Cole likely ran out of ideas. A good example of a really bad episode in this regard is one from the Philip Morris run, Thunderbolt (1949-11-10), where the goofy character believed he was Thor, the god of thunder. Thankfully, there are many good episodes to go before I have to work up the courage to dissect that mess. I can't say I'm looking forward to that one.

1:45 Casey meets Mr. Flack and Ann. Ben Flack is a mobster who runs criminal activities across the river in what sounds like New Jersey. Casey's criminal contacts give him insights the police don't really have. This one is very early in the episode, and that's a clue that it will be a theme throughout the program in some way. Here we go again… the statements imply that Casey takes place in Manhattan, at least this episode.

2:15 Beer is 15 cents at the Blue Note, less than $2. It seems the beer Ethelbert had on tap may not have been the best.

3:25 Ann drags Casey shopping… the last time they went shopping it was for Christmas, and there was a pickpocket in that episode, too. There will be one here in less than two minutes. Why else would Cole send Casey into a department store?

4:43 Casey finds a shoplifter. And then 5:30 the same person finds a pickpocket! But it’s not… there is a regular shopper who is a kleptomaniac. His thefts are covered by his family in what is later referred to as a "shoplifter's charge account."

9:07 The tobacco pouch is what was picked out of the pocket – we later learn it had a hotel key in it, critical to the story.

9:46 Karig is found beaten but becomes quickly returns to consciousness and describes the attack on him. In radio, you must become conscious quickly so as not to eat into sponsor advertising time.

10:45 The pouch was taken by Karig to “solve a mystery” – but what mystery was that? I don’t know if that’s ever really clear, but it’s the kind of self-absorbed self-important claim that the delusional Karig would make. Karig is able to give a detail description of the events at the store.

Believe it... or Not! The timeline is all wrong, but this is too funny! The key is for a room at the "Ben Dixon Hotel"… Ben Dixon became a well-known jazz drummer but not yet: he was only 13 at the time of this broadcast. Years later, when his career grew, he became a recording artist for... BLUE NOTE RECORDS! Believe it... or Not! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Dixon_(musician)

14:10 Casey realizes that “Mr. Arm-in-Sling” was dressed that way to be conspicuous to someone looking for him but did not know what he looked like. With “Mr. Arm-in-Sling” dead, Casey thinks that if he dressed the same way, he could pretend to be that person and get an exclusive scoop. But at this stage of the story, no one knows what that scoop will be.

15:45 The ruse works. Mandel Kramer plays a gangster lawyer named Lockert, and he lets Casey into his room. Kramer is uncredited in the broadcast. He was a busy radio actor, but did not have a high profile other than as Peters on Counterspy and was often in Gangbusters, also produced by Phillips H. Lord. Fourteen years later, Kramer would become the second "Johnny Dollar" of its New York broadcasts, and be the last Dollar of the series.

16:35 Ben Flack is getting the double-cross from his own lawyer who has a contract on him, but Casey does not realize it yet. He offers him $2,000 first payment and $3,000 when the job is done. That’s about $25,000 and $35,000 – $60,000 combined – in today’s dollars.

18:00 They’re still having problems with the new production method. Ann calls Logan to tell him Casey is missing. Lenrow’s microphone is not set properly for the telephone filter at first, but they do fix it as the conversation is in process.

19:45 Casey realizes that Lockert is Ben Flack’s own lawyer! Despite Flack's mob leadership, Casey has some odd loyalty to him.

20:07 Kerig, who had followed Casey, conducts a ruse by throwing a rock through the boathouse window, then claims to be the police and they have the building surrounded. Since they're in the boathouse and can't see him, Lockert and Red fall for it and surrender.

22:23 Flack enters the scene. 22:55 the actor has a brief muff of a line, continues without a problem.

24:10 Karig saves the day by using the concealed gun he took off Red but kept hidden on his person in case he needed it. How delusional was Karig, really, to make such a cunning move? Cole's strange characters are eccentric when you first meet them but paradoxically insightful despite the craziness by the end of the story.

27:15 Karig’s Robin Hood act brings the episode to a full circle conclusion. Casey was lamenting to Ethelbert that he lost his watch. Ethelbert says someone walked up to him in the street, felt sorry for him, and gave him a watch… and it turns out to be Casey’s! Karig obviously relieved Casey of his very own watch, and may have given it to Ethelbert to avenge Casey's “stealing his mystery.”

Casey 47-09-18 203 The Tobacco Pouch.mp3
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1947-09-18 Cincinnati OH Enquirer
This plot teaser is inaccurate. Oh well!


1947-09-18 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette

1947-09-11 Graveyard Gertie

Graveyard Gertie used a script from 1946-02-25 with the same name. It's a fun script with a sympathetic character who endears herself to Casey and Ann but meets an unfortunate end. Somehow, she gets the last word on the case in an amusing way through her peculiar "companion." There are no continuity notes for this 1947 broadcast. It is quite interesting how much detail is in the notes for the new scripts under A-H sponsorship and how brief the notes are for the time it was a sustained program.

ADC continuity notes from the 1946 broadcast, errors included...

Casey and Ann make the acquaintance of an old woman known as Graveyard Gertie, who is a vaudeville performer and lives alone near the cemetary with only a stuffed snake named Roger as a companion. Later the old woman disappears and a live snake is found in the box with the stuffed one. One of the gravediggers had murdered her for her money and confesses when he is bitten by the live snake which he thinks is poisonous.

0:30 Ethelbert says he never got past the "Fourth Reader." He's referring to McGuffey's Eclectic Fourth Reader, a common and foundational textbook for grammar school students. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffey_Readers
This article and paper describe how important the books were through two centuries https://www.theedadvocate.org/story-american-education-mcguffey-readers/
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1118&context=educ_fac_pubs
Read the Fourth Readerhttps://www.gutenberg.org/files/14880/14880-pdf.pdf

10:39 Convinced that Gertie has a dead body in the trunk, both Casey and Ann are shocked when "Roger" the stuffed snake powered by a spring pops out of the trunk. The snake, when living, was part of Gertie's act, but when it died, she had it stuffed.

Everyone loves the old spring-loaded snake in the can trick. It was invented just over 30 years prior to the broadcast. None of us can remember a time when there wasn't a spring-loaded snake can, and it's become one of the most ubiquitous tricks in kids magic tricks kits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_nut_can

14:26 Gertie is missing and all of the cabinets are open, and "Roger's" head is sticking out of the trunk. Someone was looking for what Gertie was hiding. Casey's certain Gertie has been murdered.

17:58 A cough from the audience! It happens during an inopportune time when Casey and Ann are discussing in the quiet of Gertie's home. Cotsworth was staunchly against audiences in dramatic broadcasts like Casey.

20:00 Two major ethnicities of New York ... or is it Boston ... of Italian and Irish are portrayed. This had to be part of an actor's skill at that time, and is frowned upon today.

22:20 Casey's plan of relating that Gertie's money is hidden in the trunk works... and Joe is the culprit. It is funny that Logan is with Casey and Ann after protesting so much that this wasn't a murder case.

24:20 Joe confesses thinking his snake bite was from a poisonous copperhead. Casey admits that he and Logan put a non-poisonous snake in the box and rigged some nails to make it feel there was a bite to anyone putting their hand in the box. They said they got the snake from the zoo. Under current rules about handling animals, no zoo would agree to lending out one of their collection under this circumstance.

27:35 Casey reveals that Gertie really only had $10 to her name ($120 in today's dollars) and that he and Ann inherited "Roger" and his trunk. Ethelbert asks what they plan to do with it. At that very moment (27:46) a delivery man asks for Ethelbert Gibson to sign for delivery of the trunk to the Blue Note. Casey and Ann leave Ethelbert befuddled as to what he should do with such a thing, and the closing music begins. John Gibson played Ethelbert from the beginning, and was the longest running actor in the Casey series on both radio and television. This was the first time in any of the recordings that Ethelbert's last name was used, and he is not mentioned in any of the other broadcasts that exist either (but we are listening to each of the shows again to be sure!). We have yet to have a recording that mentions Casey's first name, Jack, but it is mentioned in newspaper clippings.

Gertie was played by Abby Lewis. She was known for being able to play much older women in theatrical productions as well as on the radio.

1947-05-04 Tampa Bay FL Times

She was a very active radio performer; RGI lists only 70 surviving recordings of her, but, like many of our radio favorites, most of their performances were uncredited. She did a lot of 1950s radio on NBC programs like X Minus One and The Chase. http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p4.cgi?ArtistName=Lewis,%20Abby&ArtistNumber=00129

This article also reviews her career in radio.

1947-12-18 Cincinnati OH Enquirer

She was a descendant of Meriwether Lewis of the explorers Lewis & Clark!
Here's her IMDb page https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0506885

Casey 47-09-11 202 Graveyard Gertie (Repeat of # 128) UPGRADE.mp3
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This is the only newspaper clip that I could locate that had any plotline detail...

1947-09-11 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette

1947-09-04 Loaded Dice

Loaded Dice is a poorly executed episode from a production standpoint. The performance sounds a lot like people standing around  a microphone presenting a script that is very pedestrian, with nothing compelling to draw the listener into the story. What makes it all the more disappointing is that they had an extra couple of weeks to work the kinks out of the script and the technical aspects of production since it was postponed for Cotsworth's absence two weeks prior. One of the reasons for the problem is the show's use of a new performance and audio capture technique, detailed in a CBS press release.

ADC continuity notes...

Casey receives a phone call from Steve Drake, a professional gambler. Drake is greatly perturbed and in response to his urgent request, Casey goes to his apartment. There, on the floor of his living room, Drake points to a blood-stained knife which he says he discovered after being awakened suddenly by a sound he thinks was made by the close of his apartment door. They enter the adjoining apartment where they find the body of its tenant, Foster Blassett, a wealthy playboy, slumped in front of his door. He has been stabbed to death. Drake and Blassett not been on good terms, and the former sees a frame-up in the circumstances - a viewpoint that is not shared by the police whom Casey quickly calls in. Drake is charged with murder and even Casey is half-convinced that the gambler brought him into the case to establish an appearance of innocence that is not warranted by the apparent facts. The police search Blassett's apartment and find loaded dice. At first, the dice seem to link Drake even more securely to the murder. But Casey takes the trouble to learn that Blassett has won rather heavily in a dice game run by another gambler - not Drake. Following an exciting danger-packed trail of loaded dice, Casey finds the real killer.

1:56 The phone call filter does not seem to be working correctly when Drake calls Casey. Did someone flip the wrong switch on the control board?

7:37 Casey kids Logan that he's been on hold for a half hour when it's just been minutes. They're used to razzing each other and probably miss it if they can't do it.

16:40 The lab reports to Logan that the dice were loaded! They're a really bad set because they are too consistent in delivering the desired numbers, making them easily detectable.

Dice (according to Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice
How to load dice https://www.wikihow.com/Load-Dice
Where to buy loaded dice https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/top-sources-for-loaded-dice-411419

"Stickman" is one of the key people in a craps game. Casey thinks the bad loaded dice could only work if the "stickman" was in on the scheme. Learn about it all at the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craps

22:28 Doesn't Everett walk just a little too calmly into the room where Parker was just murdered in front of Casey, Logan, and Ann? The scene and the identification of the solution just doesn't work.

Casey 47-09-04 201 Loaded Dice.mp3
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These three clips are for the original planned broadcast date...

1947-08-21 Corpus Christi TX Caller-Times


1947-08-21 Des Moines IA Tribune


1947-08-21 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette

These two are for the actual broadcast date...

1947-09-04 Birmingham AL News


1947-09-04 Mason City IA Globe-Gazette


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The issues with this broadcast could be the production team struggling with a new technique of capturing the audio. If you've ever wondered why some Casey shows sound "echo-y" or like they're being done in a theater, this is why. Loaded Dice may be the first episode where it is used as it has some of these characteristics... and the opening phone call to Casey from Drake may be the first tip-off that something is quite different. Eventually, they seem to get it right, and the Casey program starts having a unique sound, but I don't think the technique was broadly adopted. Below is a November 1947 press release that reports a timeline that would include this broadcast.