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Adventure anthology · Mutual

John Steele, Adventurer

June 14, 1949 – May 10, 1955 · 66 broadcasts

John Steele, Adventurer sent a roving soldier-of-fortune around the globe every week -- from open boats on a heaving sea to the steaming Amazon, the snowbound Alps, the bullrings of Spain, and the crowded streets of Cairo. Each half hour opened "the files of John Steele" on one more restless drifter Steele had crossed paths with, dramatizing a self-contained adventure with a quiet moral sting. The series ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from April 1949, part of "Tuesday Night is Mystery Night on Mutual," through the mid-1950s. Don Douglas carried the title role; Robert Monroe -- the radio producer who would later found the consciousness-research Monroe Institute -- produced and, with writer-director Elliott Drake, shaped the show, with music by Sylvan Levin and organist Doc Whipple. Its deep New York repertory brought in Ross Martin, John Larkin, Bryna Raeburn, Jim Boles, Abby Lewis, Lon Clark, and -- in a handful of rare radio appearances just before her film fame -- Eva Marie Saint.

Collection status: 48 of 66 held (73% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1949

June 14, 1949 Awakening Listen (MP3)
July 12, 1949 Cargo Unknown Listen (MP3)
An ex-fighter pilot is strong-armed into flying a fugitive to Argentina; when the plane goes down at sea, he, his passenger, and a mystery woman are left adrift for days.
July 19, 1949 Kid Brother
August 30, 1949 Play Ball Listen (MP3)
A ballplayer friend of Steele's faces a hostile crowd, a stray foul ball, and a rolling fog, and learns how much a grandstand can make or break a man.
October 25, 1949 Lighthouse Twelve Listen (MP3)
A lighthouse keeper must master a paralyzing dread of the sea and the nightmares of his own making.
November 1, 1949 Lighthouse Twelve Listen (MP3)
A lighthouse keeper must master a paralyzing dread of the sea and the nightmares of his own making.
November 8, 1949 The Mission
A relentless search across desert sands, a mysterious woman, and the discovery that a man can learn even from defeat.
December 6, 1949 Salvage Listen (MP3)
A dreamer strikes a bargain with the sea in its icy depths, trading one life for thirty.
December 13, 1949 Salvage
A dreamer strikes a bargain with the sea in its icy depths, trading one life for thirty.
December 20, 1949 Witness

1950

January 17, 1950 Joey's Girl Listen (MP3)
Snared in his own frustration, a man is offered a woman and a chance to escape, and discovers the cost of never being able to decide.
January 24, 1950 Captive
A jungle guide who has stalked a one-eyed tigress for three years confronts what his obsession has cost him.
January 31, 1950 The Right Medicine Listen (MP3)
February 7, 1950 Ascent Listen (MP3)
Haunted by the past, a climber confronts his future high on a mountain's steep rock face.
February 14, 1950 Grade A
February 21, 1950 Detour Listen (MP3)
A ruthlessly ambitious lawyer frames his own best friend for prison to clear his path to the mayor's office.
February 28, 1950 Detour Listen (FLAC)
A ruthlessly ambitious lawyer frames his own best friend for prison to clear his path to the mayor's office.
March 7, 1950 The Lonely One Listen (MP3)
A boy lost in a world of silence is handed the weight of a terrifying secret.
March 14, 1950 Ramrod
March 21, 1950 One Way Street
A man certain he has seen everything runs into a ghost from his past down a blind alley.
March 28, 1950 Dangerous Glass
April 4, 1950 The Marshall of Morgan County
April 11, 1950 Eye Witness
April 18, 1950 Long Shot Listen (MP3)
Trapped in old bitterness, a man collides with his future amid the flying turf of the racetrack, and learns too late that no one lives alone.
April 25, 1950 Valley of the Shadow
May 6, 1950 The Unsuspected Listen (MP3)
Two men hacking through the Amazon after a lost aviator find death instead, and a secret no one would believe.
May 9, 1950 The Unsuspected Listen (MP3)
Two men hacking through the Amazon after a lost aviator find death instead, and a secret no one would believe.
May 23, 1950 Trail's End Listen (MP3)
A man with an unbending sense of justice is cornered in a lonely canyon with a desperate killer.
May 30, 1950 Bleak Furrows
June 20, 1950 Shadow on the Snow Listen (MP3)
High in the Swiss Alps, a man who once bargained with himself must climb a mountain to find out who he really is.
July 25, 1950 Dead Ringer Listen (MP3)
Bent on vengeance, a man stalks a brutal, faceless killer through a town full of strangers.
August 8, 1950 The Long Road Listen (MP3)
Jealousy and hijacking ride the open highway as a hate-filled long-haul trucker chases the man who wronged him.
August 22, 1950 Comeback Listen (MP3)
Ambition sours into hatred under the blistering heat of the baseball diamond, where the only way up may be to step down.
August 29, 1950 The Juniper Bush
November 7, 1950 The Darkened Ring Listen (MP3)
A boxer's craving for glory nearly costs him his future in the brutality of the ring.
November 21, 1950 Man Under Preasure
November 28, 1950 Circle Road Listen (MP3)
Scarred by memory, a man follows lonely footsteps toward a hard decision, learning that the rules of war are no guide to peace.
December 5, 1950 Cargo X
December 26, 1950 The First Stone Listen (MP3)

1951

January 2, 1951 Sorry
January 30, 1951 The Sixth Bullet Listen (MP3)
Trapped in the wreckage of his life, a man is taunted by a false hope of escape, unaware that his first success became his worst failure.
February 6, 1951 Backfire
March 13, 1951 One Way Street Listen (MP3)
A man certain he has seen everything runs into a ghost from his past down a blind alley.
April 10, 1951 The Marshal of Morgan County Listen (MP3)
A lone rider answers a voice in the night and seals a bargain in gunfire, trading his freedom for a town's justice.
July 3, 1951 Saturday Hero Listen (MP3)
A soldier who always kept to himself faces his toughest fight within, against the distant thunder of war.
August 7, 1951 Inside Story Listen (MP3)
A man with a gift for trouble is run through the night by gunfire and pursuing footsteps.
December 18, 1951 Counterpoint Listen (MP3)
From Steele's files under H for Harris: Kirk Harris, a man with no heart, and a windowless room that finally stopped him.

1953

January 8, 1953 Junk Mine Listen (MP3)
March 26, 1953 The Search for G aka Find G G for Germanium Listen (MP3)
April 30, 1953 Reversal Print Listen (MP3)
May 21, 1953 Loser Sleeper Listen (MP3)
When a sudden fortune turns up, Steele watches what raw greed does to the people scrambling for it.
June 25, 1953 Peepsight Listen (MP3)
July 2, 1953 Dust of the Kooraurau Listen (MP3)
Steele remembers the finest man he ever knew -- one who lived by his convictions even when it might cost him his life.
July 16, 1953 The False Door aka Adventure in Cairo Listen (MP3)
Summoned to Cairo when a friend's prized relic is stolen, Steele works the crowded, light-fingered streets of the Egyptian capital.
July 30, 1953 The King of the Island Listen (MP3)

1954

October 12, 1954 Bwana Simba Listen (MP3)
In Nairobi, Steele meets Louie Condon, a New York wheeler-dealer who bought himself a showgirl wife and a hunter's title that carries a sting.
October 19, 1954 Vampire Listen (MP3)
November 9, 1954 The Earth Opened Listen (MP3)
November 16, 1954 Sweetheart of Sig McKee AFRTS 055 Listen (MP3)
On the spice island of Zanzibar, the demon that trips up John Steele turns out to be a woman.
November 23, 1954 Ronset Rongaya AFRTS 056 Listen (MP3)
In India, Steele collides with the truth that a single new law cannot undo centuries of deep-rooted custom.
December 7, 1954 The Cape or the Shroud AFRTS 057 Listen (MP3)
An adventure set amid the bullrings of Spain.
December 14, 1954 Three Minus Two AFRTS 058 Listen (MP3)
In the Australian desert, a double-cross over a million dollars in gold pits a man against a redhead named Rosie and a pack of dingoes.
December 21, 1954 High Test AFRTS 059 Listen (MP3)
December 28, 1954 The Balloon Listen (MP3)

1955

April 19, 1955 The Girl on 963 Listen (MP3)
A farm boy's search for a girl he has never met turns complicated in a hurry once he reaches the big city.
May 10, 1955 Bamboo Listen (MP3)
The Story

John Steele, Adventurer sent a roving soldier-of-fortune around the globe every week -- from open boats on a heaving sea to the steaming Amazon, the snowbound Alps, the bullrings of Spain, and the crowded streets of Cairo. Each half hour opened "the files of John Steele" on one more restless drifter Steele had crossed paths with, dramatizing a self-contained adventure with a quiet moral sting. The series ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from April 1949, part of "Tuesday Night is Mystery Night on Mutual," through the mid-1950s. Don Douglas carried the title role; Robert Monroe -- the radio producer who would later found the consciousness-research Monroe Institute -- produced and, with writer-director Elliott Drake, shaped the show, with music by Sylvan Levin and organist Doc Whipple. Its deep New York repertory brought in Ross Martin, John Larkin, Bryna Raeburn, Jim Boles, Abby Lewis, Lon Clark, and -- in a handful of rare radio appearances just before her film fame -- Eva Marie Saint.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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