What happens
Sam Dodsworth, a recently retired automobile manufacturer, travels to Europe with his wife Fran, who hopes the trip will give them both a fresh start. On the voyage and in London, Fran grows restless and drawn to new company, while Sam tries to keep their marriage steady. Their differing wishes for the trip strain their relationship as they move through hotels and social circles abroad. This is an episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air, first broadcast on 1939-11-26, adapted from the Sinclair Lewis novel, with Orson Welles and Frances Farmer in the leading roles. The guide covers only the first part of the story.
A transatlantic steamer, London hotels and clubs, and Paris in the late 1930s.
Characters: Sam Dodsworth, Fran Dodsworth, Major Lockert, Mrs. Cartwright, Clyde, Kurt, Arnold Iselin, Madame de Penoble
Listen for: Listen for the shift in Fran's wishes as she grows restless abroad, and for Sam's growing unease over the new friendships she forms.
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.