What happens
Jack O'Leary, a young lawyer, and his brother Dion, a rising figure in Chicago politics, are drawn into the city's rough growth after the Great Fire. Dion's ambitions take him into a partnership with the singer Bell Faucet, who opens a lavish cafe, while Gil Warner, the political boss of the patch, watches his position slip. Meanwhile Jack's mother, Molly O'Leary, runs a laundry and wants her sons to rise above it. This is the Lux Radio Theatre's 1944 adaptation of In Old Chicago, broadcast on October 9, 1944, with Robert Young, Alice Faye and John Hodiak in the leading roles as heard in the dramatization. The episode follows the family's rivalries and ambitions as the city's politics heat up.
Chicago, Illinois, from the 1870s to the period of political rivalry that follows the city's rebuilding
Characters: Dion O'Leary, Jack O'Leary, Molly O'Leary, Bell Faucet, Gil Warner, Senator Colby, Gretchen, Mitch Stacey
Listen for: Dion's offer to Gil Warner and the rise of the reform party
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.