What happens
Butch, a hardened ex-convict and former safe cracker, is paroled and must keep his nose clean under the watch of Officer Dennis Devlin. When neighbor Susie O'Neill tries to gas herself in her apartment, Butch ends up minding her baby, Michael, and is drawn into a plan with Harry the Horse and the Talker to crack a safe at the Acme Coal Company for the gangster Brandy Smith. The job brings the baby along, and the scheme grows more tangled as Butch tries to keep the child safe. This Screen Director's Playhouse broadcast, presented by RCA Victor, is based on a Damon Runyon story and stars Broderick Crawford in his original role as Big Butch.
New York City, in the apartment house where Susie O'Neill lives, and later the offices of the Acme Coal Company
Characters: Big Butch, Officer Dennis Devlin, Susie O'Neill, Michael, Harry the Horse, The Talker, Brandy Smith
Listen for: Butch's gruff humor as he is pulled into minding the baby, and the interplay between Butch and Officer Devlin
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.