What happens
Mr. Howard, an English gentleman who dislikes children, is forced to care for a group of them when the German invasion of France in 1940 traps them all. Sheila Kavanaugh and her brother Ronnie, whose parents have gone to Geneva, are first in his charge as they travel toward Paris on a train. Along the way the group swells, and Mr. Howard and his young companions try to reach England. This Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the 1942 film The Pied Piper stars Frank Morgan, Margaret O'Brien and Sr. Hasso, and was broadcast on November 6, 1944. The episode is the first part of a longer dramatization.
France, 1940, during the German invasion, from a mountain inn near Switzerland to a train, a bus and the town of Saint-Malo
Characters: Mr. Howard, Sheila Kavanaugh, Ronnie Kavanaugh, Madame Pika, Mr. Kavanaugh, Rose, Pierre, Nicole Rougeron
Listen for: Mr. Howard's gruff insistence that he dislikes children, and his gradual change of heart as the children win him over
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.