What happens
Henry Van Cleve, a wealthy man who has spent his life pursuing women, arrives at the afterlife and is received by an elegant gentleman known to his associates as his Excellency. Henry recounts the women who shaped his life, beginning with his mother and his childhood teacher, Miss Chivers. The tale grows more serious when Henry meets Martha Strayblum, the fiancée of his cousin Albert, and is drawn to her despite the family ties. This episode of the Lux Radio Theatre presents the 1943 play Heaven Can Wait, first broadcast on October 11, 1943, with Don Ameche as Henry and Maureen O'Hara as Martha.
The afterlife office of his Excellency, and flashbacks to Henry's childhood and adult life in New York, 1899 and after
Characters: Henry Van Cleve, His Excellency, Martha Strayblum, Albert Van Cleve, Mrs. Cooper Cooper, Miss Chivers, Mary, Mr. E. F. Strayblum
Listen for: Henry's confession to his Excellency about the women in his life, and his first meeting with Martha in the bookshop
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.