Mistaken Identity: Tarzan (May 1, 1935)

“Mistaken Identity” is an episode of Tarzan, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 1, 1935. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Tarzan, now John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, dines in Loango with his friend Lieutenant Paul D'Arnot of the African Patrol Service, who is awaiting a ship to France. Their talk turns to Tarzan's new fortune and his wish to remain in the jungle. Their conversation is interrupted by an English visitor, Mr. Gregory, and his daughter, who have come to Africa to look into the disappearance of Mr. Gregory's son, Brian. They are struck by how closely Tarzan resembles the missing man. Later, a mysterious note summons Tarzan to the hotel salon, where a woman and a man confront him, insisting he is Brian Gregory and demanding a map to the lost city of Opar. The tense encounter has only just begun as the transcript ends.

Loango, a French-African port on the African coast, in a hotel grill and the rooms above it

Characters: Tarzan, Paul D'Arnot, Mr. Gregory, Miss Gregory, Margaret, Lal Tusk, Brian Gregory

Listen for: Who the stranger claims Tarzan really is, and what the map is said to lead to

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.