Inner Sanctum (1941-52) aired “Lady with a Plan” on Tuesday,  April 9, 1946 as the 266th of its approximately 527 episodes. Unfortunately, most of the shows are lost, with best guesstimates ranging from 140 to “less than 200” still in circulation. However, among these still existing shows, some are only partial episodes, with the majority of the complete episodes being AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) repeats. While the AFRS is to be commended for having preserved these episodes, it should be noted that it deleted the local, syndicated commercials in order not to play favorites with advertised products (and in select episodes added government ads supporting the war effort). It also removed the original openings and closings, running episodes under the Mystery Playhouse title with Peter Lorre as one of the show’s hosts (along with a nameless “Sergeant X” in certain episodes). This is not one of the AFRS Mystery Playhouse episodes (though the Lipton Tea commercials featuring Mary Bennett have been removed, except for a brief one at the end of this show by mistake), and is otherwise a full, original episode. It features Paul McGrath (1904-1978, photo top right) as the host (he would replace the original host, Raymond Johnson, after he left the show in May of 1945 to join the armed forces). Lipton Tea would not become a sponsor until the 1945 season, bringing with it the perky co-host and Lipton Tea spokesperson Mary Bennett who became famous for working in Lipton Tea commercials alongside the host’s terrible puns. Bromo Seltzer became the show’s new sponsor in July of 1946 and remained so until 1950, at which time Mars Candy Bars would assume sponsorship of the show until 1952.

This is the 33rd Inner Sanctum episode we’ve run since we began featuring Old Time Radio shows back in 2009. The 32nd ran in January of 2022, the one previous ran in September of 2021, with the one previous to that in October of 2019 almost five years ago, so we felt it high time for another. First, however, and of interest to genre fans, we would like to note that between 1943 and 1945 Universal Pictures obtained the rights to, and produced six Inner Sanctum Mystery films. They were Calling Dr. Death (1943), Weird Woman (1944), Dead Man’s Eyes (1944), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Strange Confession (1945) and Pillow of Death (1945). All would star legendary horror actor Lon Chaney, Jr.

“Lady with a Plan” is a rollicking three-ring circus of misguided evil intent. There’s no other way to describe it. We have the wife of a prison warden who is tired of her life defined mostly by the length, breadth, and depth of the prison walls. She asks her husband, the cruel prison warden for a divorce but he refuses. Desperate, she begins an affair with the assistant warden which motivates her to hatch an escape plan for them both. Said plan is that of the title, but let’s go over what has led up to this point and assess the odds of success without even knowing what the entire escape plan is. We are given a cuckolded prison warden with a mean streak, his assistant warden is having an affair with the warden’s adulterous wife, a plan conceived by the scheming wife is soon to be revealed which now includes the necessary aid of at least one prisoner. With all of the cast of characters in place, and all of them evincing the highest personal moral and ethical standards known to Man, what could possible go wrong? Selfishness, deceit, treachery, and serious misjudgement of the dark side of human nature all combine to prove the point that only results matter, and it’s not enough merely to have intentions, especially for this not too bright “Lady with a Plan.”

(The linked CD at top includes 11 discs featuring 22 half-hour episodes, including this one.)

Play Time: 28:40

{This episode of Inner Sanctum aired on a Tuesday evening in early April of 1946. It put them in the mood for stories of more dark deeds and mayhem they knew they were sure to find after school the next day at the nearby newsstand. And such stories were found aplenty in the following magazines brought home that late afternoon. Crack Detective Stories (1938-57) may not have been the most popular or critically acclaimed of the detective pulps, but it held a loyal audience for 20 years and  8 name changes. From November of 1943 through September of 1949 it flew the title shown below and held to a bi-monthly schedule through 1946. Dime Mystery Magazine (1932-50) began its almost 20-year run filling each issue with a full-length novel and a few shorter pieces. This was determined early on not to be a successful formula, so its contents shifted to a few each of short stories and novelettes, but more importantly the emphasis was placed on the “weird menace” story which turned the magazine’s fortunes around quite nicely. It was a bi-monthly in 1946. Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine (1915-49) was the first pulp devoted entirely to detective fiction. In fact, when the Nick Carter Stories dime novels publication ceased, it was Detective Story Magazine that picked up its last story in mid-serial and finished it. For half of the magazine’s 34-year run it published a new issue on a weekly basis, then went monthly for virtually the rest of its career. It finished its amazing run with more than 1,000 issues to its credit. It was a monthly in 1946.}

[Left: Crack Detective Stories, 5/46 – Center: Dime Mystery, 5/46 – Right: S&S Detective Story, 4/46]

To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.