The Violent Van Pattens: Let George Do It (June 9, 1952)

“The Violent Van Pattens” is an episode of Let George Do It, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 9, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private investigator George Valentine and his secretary Miss Brooks are summoned to Foghorn Island by a woman named Leader Van Patten, who mentions a family curse of violence born from the sea and the island's isolation. Valentine arrives to find that Leader's niece Lita has secretly married a man named Jim Simmons against her wealthy uncle Captain Van Patten's wishes, and Valentine has been hired to deliver this difficult news to the temperamental patriarch.

Foghorn Island, a remote private island that was once home to a lighthouse, now inhabited by the Van Patten family in an old lighthouse building

Characters: George Valentine, Miss Brooks, Leader Van Patten, Max, Rachel, Lita Simmons, Jim Simmons, Lloyd Rankin

Listen for: The sabotaged boat that prevents Valentine's escape from the island, and Captain Van Patten's surprisingly pleasant reaction to learning of his niece's secret marriage

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.