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The tale involves a blind man, and his guide dog. When the dog shows up in the hands of the sheriff, he’s joined by Texas Ranger, Jase Pearson, and travelling through some rough terrain, the dog leads them back to his wounded master. Will they make it in time to help the injured man?
Investigation turns up the blind man’s past. He was a bank robber who was locked away in prison. During his time behind bars, he went blind, and lately has been trying to live the straight life with his dog. How did he end up in the middle of the desert with his dog searching for help?
Before the former bandit was locked up, he hid his loot in a cave in the desert, but his only landmarks to find it again was his memory of visual landmarks. How can a blind man find those visual cues? Who might he trust to help him? It looks like he picked the wrong people. Listen in and learn how the Texas Rangers resolve this case. According to reliable sources, this is a true story, and the missing treasure the blind criminal was looking for is still out there, elusive to all treasure seekers thus far.
Bonus Track:
Hank Williams. 1949. Move It on Over.
PS: Police dramas took a big change in direction when Dragnet hit the airwaves in 1949. In 1950 the Tales of the Texas Rangers came on the scene to take advantage of this new popularity, mixing westerns with police drama. It also based its stories on real cases, with names changed to protect the innocent. The lead character traveled with a horse trailer, just in case the pursuit of a bad guy took them to places where there were no roads. One thing I appreciate about the gritty, realistic police dramas of the era of old time radio is that it shows that some things haven’t changed much. The so called good old days were still filled with a disreputable criminal element. Murder, drugs, theft, and more. Not the glossed over mastermind criminals of such radio serials as Superman, Dick Tracey, or the Green Hornet.
Not long ago I read a newspaper editorial where someone wrote in to complain about the sorry state of crime in the city. To include such things as gangs, drugs and the poor choices of clothing styles that our young people dress themselves in these days. You know, skimpy and revealing clothes, droopy drawers, under pants exposed, that kind of thing. Well, they may have a point with the poor taste in modern clothes, but the crime situation wasn’t really any better back then, as these old police dramas point out. If anything the criminals were just as ruthless, and the law was more strict back then. Judges routinely administered the death penalty and the delivery of that justice was swift.
Originally posted on March 10, 2008. Enjoy today’s show and our drift from our usual comedy routine, as we flash back to one of the early episodes in the Retro Radio archives,
