The Lars Nielson Murder Case: Broadway Is My Beat (September 29, 1951)

“The Lars Nielson Murder Case” is an episode of Broadway Is My Beat, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 29, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Detective Danny Clover investigates when a man follows and threatens Polly Morgan, a famous ballad singer, prompting her to get a gun permit for protection. When the man is found dead in her apartment, the case takes an unexpected turn involving a childhood memory from fifteen years ago in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

New York City, primarily the 13th Club nightclub and police headquarters, with flashbacks to Black River Falls, Wisconsin

Characters: Detective Danny Clover, Polly Morgan, Lars Nielsen, Vic, Sergeant Geno Tataglia, Mr. Proudly, Lawrence Milton

Listen for: The atmospheric noir opening and closing descriptions of Broadway at night; Polly Morgan's emotional ballad performances; the revelation of the childhood connection between Polly and Lars Nielsen; the twist involving two men with the same name from the same town.

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.