The Jonathan Bellows Matter: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (June 23, 1953)

“The Jonathan Bellows Matter” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 23, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is hired to look into an attempted shooting at the home of wealthy industrialist Jonathan Bellows, who refuses police protection and seems unconcerned about the attack. Dollar arrives at Bellows' Manhattan apartment to find a tense family situation and a cantankerous old man unwilling to cooperate with the investigation.

Manhattan apartment at Park Avenue, New York City; a garden where the shooting attempt occurred

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Mr. Stern, Jonathan Bellows, Mrs. Edith Bellows, Professor Wilk, Ralph

Listen for: The clash between Dollar's professional determination and Bellows' stubborn refusal to accept help; family tensions and secrets that may relate to the shooting; Bellows' sudden change of heart when left alone with Dollar.

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.