Radio Retropolis

A woman files a report with Friday and Smith that her mother has disappeared.  Foul play is suspected with their key suspect the woman’s father.  Commentary on Harry Bartell's time in radio.  Plus announcer George Fenneman working with two polar opposites-Jack Webb and Groucho Marx.

Last time, The Atom Man took the upper hand by turning on the electronic converter activating the metal mesh gloves shooting Kryptonite sparks at the Man of Steel whose very life now hangs by a thread. Commentary on the excessive torture inflicted upon Superman and the affect it had on the young listeners of the day.

After suffering a head injury during the Blitz, an actor comes to believe himself to be the Brighton Strangler, the murderer he was playing onstage.  Commentary on why John Loder was the poor man's Errol Flynn and how the sexual harassment of June Duprez led to her blacklist from Hollywood.

A string of poisonings bears an uncanny similarity to the current state of murders in a newspaper’s detective comic strip series. Commentary on horror icon Boris Karloff.

A woman dreams her husband is plotting to kill her and then sees him digging a grave in the garden!  Commentary on actress Charlotte Holland and her more famous husband Sam Wanamaker.  Plus, actor Arnold Moss and his even more famous son Jeff Moss who was one of the creators behind Sesame Street.

Henry Miller convinces Jimmy Olsen to go with him on a big story many miles away which soon reveals Miller’s true intentions for Superman.  Commentary on the plot shifting into fourth gear. Plus, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound which was released on this day.

Henry Miller decides to put Teufel’s theory to the test that Clark Kent is Superman by wearing a leaded vest to control the Kryptonite rays to see how Kent reacts. Commentary on how the villains will capitalize on Kent's true identity.

A pair of check forgers are at work in Los Angeles. Friday once again goes undercover to track them down. Commentary on the PSA in this episode on Ground Observer Corps which was needed during the height of the Cold War and during the Korean War.

Henry Miller is telling Der Teufel of an interesting revelation he made once he confronted Superman and Clark Kent at the Daily Planet.  Commentary on Der Teufel's quick deduction of who Superman really is.  Plus, the first ballpoint pen was sold at Gimbel's department store on this day.

Late 1800's White Chapel London is being terrorized by a slasher who roams the streets at night.  Could this be the notorious Jack the Ripper?  Commentary on the original pilot version of The Lodger directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Plus, star Robert Montgomery and the real life tension with his even more famous actress daughter, Elizabeth.

Moments after a man is hanged for the murder of his uncle, the men who sent him to his death receive a call from the dead man himself who promises to exact his revenge on each of them.  Commentary on the history of executions in the United States.

After a woman murders her uncle, his blackmailing friend visits who is later found stabbed to death.  Commentary on  rooting for a murderer.  Plus, star Lesley Woods.

Superman inadvertently comes across Henry Miller, who unbeknownst to Superman is The Atom Man, digging around Lois’ desk when Miller is just about to put on the metal mesh gloves that channel the power of Kryptonite to destroy Superman.  Commentary on how the U.S, was so technologically inadequate in this serial as compared to a mad Nazi scientist.  Plus, this day in history.

Lois contacted the state hospital have Clark forcibly taken for mental evaluation due to his irrational behavior thanks to the Kryptonite emitted from The Atom Man, aka Henry Miller, unbeknownst to both Lois and Clark.  Commentary on asylums in 1950's America, how patients were diagnosed and how they were alarmingly treated.

A gang of car strippers is hitting the city while a sixteen-year-old boy is killed in a crash while resisting arrest.  Commentary on juvenile joy riders and car theft rings of the 1950s.