The Ugly Duckling: Let George Do It (January 30, 1950)

“The Ugly Duckling” is an episode of Let George Do It, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 30, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

George Valentine is hired by music patron Yasha Hardwick to investigate the troubled marriage of composer Edmund Salter and his wife Mary. Mary devoted her career to supporting Edmund, a wealthy but cold and self-absorbed composer, only to find herself exhausted and unhappy. When Edmund suddenly dies, George begins to uncover suspicious details about his death and the various people who stood to gain from it.

The Salter home and surrounding town, 1950.

Characters: George Valentine, Miss Brooks, Yasha Hardwick, Mary Salter, Edmund Salter, Dr. Robinson, Diane Luskin, Mrs. Rapple

Listen for: A mystery surrounding the death of a famous but unlikeable composer, with questions about whether Edmund Salter's death was natural or caused by an overdose of medicine.

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.