ZERO HOUR Wife of the Red-Haired Man

A welcome, albeit inexplicable, American radio drama revival occurred in the early 1970’s with the advent of programs such as “The CBS Mystery Theater,” “Earplay,” “National Radio Theater,” and early productions of audiobook mavins Charles Potter and David Rapkin. “The Zero Hour” was part of this revival, a commercially broadcast daily series that serialized mystery stories. It lasted one season. In this case, it’s a cat-and-mouse game in which tough cop Howard Duff tracks down miscreants Patty Duke and her then husband, John Astin. The sonic imagery here is recherché, even for the time. The producers, recruited from the Golden Age of Radio, teeter uneasily between 1949 and 1970. Though Astin is miscast, he and Duke imbue their scenes with incredible tension and pathos. Duff, who was radio’s Sam Spade, is an old hand at this sort of fare. Rod Serling’s recaps at the beginning of each half-hour episode add little to the cassette version except box-office draw. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]