J. Carrol Naish plays a shoemaker whose belief in his ne’er-do-well son’s innocence after an event that involved robbery, murder, and arson. He is determined to seek the truth, and it takes years to do so. Naish’s character is blind, and he relies on his sense of touch to excel in his craft. He pays careful attention to detail about the distinct sounds of footsteps of customers and passers-by to navigate his encounters with them and alert him to danger.
The story is adapted from a short story by Wilbur Daniel Steele. He was a very popular author and playwright in the early 20th Century. Footfalls was first published in 1919 and has been included in many compilations of his short stories and mystery anthologies over the years. The story was adapted by Robert L. Richards and Alvin George. A summary of the original story is at https://www.supersummary.com/footfalls/summary/ The story can be read at https://shortstories.fandom.com/wiki/Footfalls The O. Henry Memorial Committee selected it as one of the best short stories of 1920. It became a 1921 silent movie that starred Tyrone Power, Sr. The film is considered to be lost.
There are two surviving network recordings; it is not known which is east or west. One recording goes directly to network ID “(dirID)” and the other is three seconds “(3s).” The “(dirID)” recording is better.
The robbery premise of the story is of its time. Today’s electronic funds transfer would make it unnecessary today. Authors always find a premise and a motive appropriate to the times they are in or writing about whether it is historical fiction or science fiction. Steele would have created a different crime to reach the same conclusion and still provide an entertaining story.
The broadcast was originally scheduled for 1945-06-28 and delayed until this date. It is likely that it was held because of a change in Naish’s availability.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP450712
THE CAST
J. CARROL NAISH (Boaz Negro), Conrad Binyon (Manuel as a child), Jack Moyles (Charlie / Second man), Jack Edwards, Jr. (Campbell Wood), Irvin Lee? (Manuel as older youth), Peggy Rea? (Mrs. Evans), Bill Johnstone (Signature Voice / Martin the policeman / Man #1)
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