What happens
Jack Benny and his cast stage a comedic parody of the 1939 Jesse James film, with Benny as Jesse and Phil Harris as the villain Bossy. Jesse and his family refuse to sell their farm to the St. Louis Midland Railroad, whose president, McCoy, is determined to lay tracks through the property. The first part sets up the dispute, with Jesse and his brother Juicy chasing off the railroad men in a broad, joke-filled showdown. The program is a Jell-O sponsored broadcast on NBC and CBS Radio, first aired on February 26, 1939, and features Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson and Phil Harris.
The farm of Mrs. James on the outskirts of I'm From Missouri, in 1867
Characters: Jesse James, Juicy, Mrs. James, Zarelda, Bossy, Mr. McCoy, Phil Harris (as Bossy), Jack Benny (as Jesse James)
Listen for: The railroad men's threats to the farm and Jesse's confrontation with Bossy and McCoy
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.