What happens
Richard Kane, a once-respected businessman, is arrested for embezzlement, and his son Dick must face the disgrace at college. Father and son quarrel bitterly, and the father is sentenced to prison while the son, alienated, drifts into work for a racketeer. He is taken under the wing of Mickey Dwyer, a gangster, and meets a club singer named Lucky, who becomes a companion and confidante. The episode is a radio adaptation of the 1941 Lux Radio Theatre production of Johnny Apollo, presented by 20th Century Fox, with Burgess Meredith, Edward Arnold and Dorothy Lamour in the leading roles. The first half sets up the estrangement between father and son and the young man's descent into the underworld.
Early 1940s American city, including a courtroom, a prison, a city street and a nightclub.
Characters: Richard Kane Sr., Dick Kane Jr. (Johnny Apollo), Lucky Barry, Mickey Dwyer, Brennan, Mr. McLachan, Judge
Listen for: The bitter exchange between Richard Kane and his son in the first act, and Johnny's first meeting with Mickey Dwyer and Lucky.
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.