The Giant of Brentwood: The Adventures of Superman (April 3, 1940)

“The Giant of Brentwood” is an episode of The Adventures of Superman, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 3, 1940. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Clark Kent and Elsie Beecham come to Stone House in the suburb of Brentwood to look into the strange situation surrounding Dr. George Haven Beecham, Elsie's father, a scientist recently back from South America who has shut himself away and refused to see his daughter. Outside the house, Elsie reports seeing a giant man, and Kent confronts a large man in the grounds before the two of them break into the empty-looking house. Kent goes upstairs to search for the source of footsteps while Elsie waits below, and he finds a locked room that someone is holding shut. The episode ends with Elsie vanishing from the house, and the mystery deepening. This is the first part of the adventure, and it is broadcast as part of the Superman series.

Stone House, a deserted-looking house in the suburb of Brentwood

Characters: Clark Kent, Elsie Beecham, Dr. George Haven Beecham

Listen for: The footsteps and creaking above, and the giant man seen through the trees

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.