Had a bit of an issue yesterday so I had to play tech support guru for my mother’s computer so I didn’t get the latest OTR Double Dip out there but that’s remedied today…
You can’t have a discussion of old time radio without including Orson Welles in the discussion. Not did the actor portray the original Shadow but for most of the 1940s you couldn’t turn the radio dial without running across Welles on some program. In fact he even hosted The Jack Benny show for a month, in 1943, when Benny was ill.
On to this episode, and you may think I’m cheating as we’re only listening to one story. But I’ll point out it IS two episodes of Suspense! Donovan’s Brain was the first two parter for the classic series and also its first foray into science fiction.
Our tale is one of an Arizona scientist, Dr. Patrick Cory, whose studies are interrupted by a nearby plane crash in which an associate finds a survivor. In a move to further his own experiments, Dr. Cory makes a choice regarding the plane’s occupant (millionaire William H. Donovan) which has dire consequences for all involved.
Suspense – Donovan’s Brain (Aired May 18th & 25th, 1944)
You can download the episode here.
The story is adapted from the 1943 Curt Siodmak novel. I will point out (no spoiler here) the ending of the novel and that of the radio program are actually quite different.
*** I should point out when doing your best to remaster many of these old radio shows one has to walk a fine line of cleaning the audio as best you can while also trying not to ruin the original sound integrity of the broadcast. This why you still hear some underlying hiss or crackles on some of these shows I’ve worked on, as too much manipulation begins to make the original recording begin to sound tinny or unnatural.
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