Radio sensitivity

Thursday 3/21/24

I'll have more to say going forward about Tales of the Texas Rangers, because it's one of our very best radio series, and as I've remarked before, radio is this deep vein of art that most people are unaware of. Yes, we all know the radio, as in that thing that we listen to in the car--or that we used--but in America's history you'll find as much art in radio as you will in, say, jazz or the movie Western. I feel like it's a trove that is largely untapped--and not even considered--save by radio enthusiasts "in the know."

This is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers that ran April 20, 1952, during the show's last year. It's called "Illusion" and is one of the many variants on the gaslighting idea.

What's funny to me about certain set-ups is that the villain, who could easily just wait for the law to go away, insists on going ahead with their murderous scheme while the people who can stop them are hovering about. Use some patience! Wait for the law to say, "Okay, we're good here, no one is doing anything dastardly," then do your murder when they go back to wherever. It'll keep.

The reason why I'm sharing this episode though is because of the treatment shown by the ranger and the sheriff to the victim, who we don't know is a victim for much of the episode, and who they don't know is a victim. Note how sensitive they both are. Kind in a real, empathetic way. I find it very convincing. The victim, by the way, is played by Jeanette Nolan, who was in so many radio episodes--massive amounts--and who had also played Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles's Macbeth from 1948.

I like the part especially where Nolan's character misremembers having bought the rat poison. Hear the fear in her voice, like now she has no chance of getting the assistance she needs, because she would have lost all credibility with these two men. Listen to how Joel McCrea's character Jace Pearson responds to her. Does that not move you? Does it not teach you something? It's believable, compelling, instructive, touching.