1938-8-21 The Caverns of Death

Broadcast August 21st 1938 syndicated for the summer by Goodrich Tires

This episode is included in Radio Spirits CD Set The Shadow: Bitter Fruit*

Written by:

Announcer: Ken Roberts

Cast: Orson Welles (Lamont Cranston/The Shadow) Margot Stevenson (Margot Lane)

Music: Rosa Rio

Synopsis:

More than a dozen students on tour at the Painted Caverns of Arizona fall to their deaths after a railing, overlooking a bottomless pit, accidentally breaks. Professor Morley blames himself for having arranged the tour of the caverns. An inquisitive Lamont and Margot inspect the pit personally to find one of the students injured on a wide ledge along the side. A guide attempts to rescue the boy by tying a rope under his arms, the rope breaks and the guide plunges to his death — the rope was deliberately cut. While examining other tunnels, Lamont orders Margot to escape and fetch the police while he faces the masterminds. The accident was prearranged by Professor Morley and his two associates so they could work the surviving kids like slaves to mine valuable jewels Morley had discovered a year previous. The foreman has a change of heart and demands they let the kids go, but Morley turns his whip on the foreman, intending to make him a slave as well. The Shadow confronts Morley and discovers that a match could spark an explosion in the natural gas-filled cavern. The Shadow manages to steal his matches, saving the lives of everyone inside. Recovering from his wounds, the foreman uses a pick ax against the two criminals, thus ending the crime and saving the kids.

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Note:

*This episode is also available on The Murray Hill Anthology of The Shadow -  The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems