This program marks the return of the worst voice in Internet audio after a somewhat lengthy break…

I received from Jerry Haendiges, of The Vintage Radio Place a large collection of programs, with the suggestion I “broadcast” some of them here on the blog…thing is, many of the programs he sent I’d never heard, and some I’ve never heard of, even as long as I’ve been in the hobby. So for the foreseeable future I’m going to run the shows he sent in low-bandwidth MP3 format - even at 32kbps mono, these shows are some of the best-sounding shows you’ll hear. But remember for even better sound, these shows (and a few bazillion others) may be purchased from Jerry in either audio CD format, or ultra-high-quality MP3 format.

Today’s show was a 1947 summer replacement for Abbott and Costello featuring the great Peter Lorre in an adaptation of the mystery classic “The Marvelous Barastro,” by Ben Hecht. This series, Mystery in the Air, was announced by Henry Morgan, better-known as Sgt. Friday’s partner Frank Gannon in the color version of Dragnet, and Col. Potter in the long-running M*A*S*H. The sponsor is Camel cigarettes, who asks, “What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?” with a supporting cast drawn from some of the best the west coast had to offer, in this episode John Brown, Howard Culver, Jane Morgan, and Russell Thorson.

So turn off the lights, crawl under the covers, and listen to this episode of Mystery in the Air, “The Marvelous Barastro!”

 Mystery in the Air - The Marvelous Barastro [32:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download