The Village Scene Matter (The Missing Masterpiece): Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (March 28, 1950)

“The Village Scene Matter (The Missing Masterpiece)” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 28, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar arrives in Boston to investigate the theft of a valuable painting called "The Village Scene," which was stolen from the Mordan Art Gallery. The painting, valued at $250,000 and owned by Caesar Riddo, was on loan to the gallery when it disappeared through what appears to be a straightforward window job. As Dollar begins his investigation, he uncovers tensions between the gallery owner André Mordan and Riddo, and discovers that Riddo himself may have questionable financial dealings.

Boston, including the Mordan Art Gallery on a modest brownstone, the police station, and Caesar Riddo's residence on Beacon Hill.

Characters: Johnny Dollar, André Mordan, his daughter, Caesar Riddo, Sergeant Heinz, Lily Swanson

Listen for: The theft of an expensive masterpiece and Dollar's interviews with the gallery owner, police, and the painting's owner as he pieces together the circumstances of the burglary.

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.