Imperial Oil Company Racket: Boston Blackie (May 18, 1949)

“Imperial Oil Company Racket” is an episode of Boston Blackie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 18, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A phony oil stock racket operated by the sophisticated Count von Bernard comes to Boston Blackie's attention when a man named Anthony Dalton, who shares Blackie's nickname due to his dark hair, is mistaken for him by a confidence man trying to sell oil shares. Blackie traces the printed stock certificates to an illegal printing press and becomes entangled with Olivia Barton, Bernard's beautiful accomplice, who uses her charms to disarm and trap him. With Blackie held prisoner and the count planning his death, Mary Wesley races against time to reach him before it's too late.

A city with police headquarters, printing operations, apartments, and various businesses involved in a stock fraud scheme.

Characters: Boston Blackie, Count von Bernard, Olivia Barton, Mary Wesley, Anthony Dalton, Smitty (Walter Smith), Inspector Faraday, Homer

Listen for: The clever use of a flower and perfume to exploit a suspect's allergy; Olivia's expert rope-tying skills and her betrayal of Boston Blackie; the tailor's records that help track down the racket's participants.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.