The Escaped Prisoner: Boston Blackie (May 28, 1946)

“The Escaped Prisoner” is an episode of Boston Blackie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 28, 1946. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When escaped convict Mike Harlan hides in Boston Blackie's apartment seeking help, Inspector Faraday arrives to arrest him. That night, Blackie discovers that Harlan's daughter Gladys has joined a waterfront gang and is about to participate in an armored truck robbery. Blackie tricks Gladys into revealing the gang's plans by impersonating her boss Joe over the phone, then alerts the authorities to intercept the crime.

Boston, including a prison, a waterfront dive called the Traveler's Barn, city streets, and various apartments

Characters: Boston Blackie, Inspector Faraday, Mike Harlan, Mary, Gladys Harlan, Joe, Tony

Listen for: Blackie's clever impersonation of Joe over the phone to extract the gang's robbery plans; the revelation that Harlan broke jail not to evade justice but to save his daughter from a life of crime; the twist that the armored truck was empty and contained only slugs and dirt, meaning no one was actually murdered.

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.