THE ADVENTURES OF DICK COLE - THE WEREWOLF OF FARR (1946)

 "AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE SCHOOL STAR!"

Oh yeah, did I mention that I would be doing a couple Halloween old time radio shows, too???  I've been listening to and collecting old radio shows since 1977 (yes, I was just a kid) when my friend Ed Jacoby first told me that PBS radio station WUHY-FM (later WHYY-FM) was broadcast a few of them nightly.  I quickly started collecting them on vinyl and cassette tapes and have amassed quite a huge collection after the advent of cd's and now downloads.  But I must confess that I've never ever heard of Dick Cole.  Even worse, I started reading and collecting comic books when I was about 5 years old and Dick Cole apparently started in comic books:  originated as a feature in BLUE BOLT COMICS before leaping into his very own title from Novelty Press.  So it's only now, at this very minute, when I was scanning through the new Old Time Radio mp3 Halloween collection I just got from Onesmedia (a terrific guy and a great seller) when I saw this episode all on it's lonesome among 328 hours across 14 mp3 cds.  The episode was simply and intriguingly just called "WEREWOLVES".  OK, I gotta give this a listen.  As the catchphrase above leads you to believe, Dick Cole was a college football hero who had adventures (which was a popular trope back in the 30's and 40's -- the most popular on old time radio was probably JACK ARMSTRONG, THE ALL-AMERICAN BOY from Hudson High School).  And just like JACK ARMSTRONG, DICK COLE opens with a college fight song for Farr Military Academy; at which Cole is a cadet.  Apparently Dick was found as a child at the steps of Farr and taken in (and raised) by Professor Blair.  Cole grew into a very strong and athletic cadet who also spent his time fighting crime (as one does).  There appear to be only about 25 episodes of THE ADVENTURES OF DICK COLE currently in existence and a few of them, by the episode titles, appear to have a little horror stuff going on in them so I'm gonna have to track them down.

Our hero Dick Cole begins the episode (also titled in some places as "THE WEREWOLF OF FARR" which I think is a better title so I'm using that) with a keen and racky narration:  "Hiya Gang!  Today's story is about a scare we all had at Farr; and I do mean a scare, all right!  Now I'm sure none of you believe in werewolves or vampires.  Well, I never did either.  But when a lot of strange evidence was presented, and the lives of a lot of people were in danger, I wasn't so sure!  Fortunately for me, I remembered a rather significant fact and . . . well . . . I mustn't give away the story before I start.  The whole thing began one Sunday afternoon.  I was sitting in my room at the Farr barracks just reading and not thinking much about anything, when my roommate Simba Connell came rushing in . . ."  Simba runs into the room yelling for Dick (*snicker snicker*) who askes what's the ruckus.  There's a forest fire nearby but it looks like the fire department has it under control.  Fair enough.  But the next day, Simba comes bursting into the room once again saying the town is all in an uproar!  "Dick, there are serious reports of a vampire being loose in town!", Simba says breathlessly.  "Sure, you know, a werewolf!  A phantom animal that has magical, legendary powers."  Well, it appears ol' Simba can't tell the difference between a vampire and a werewolf.  This is the mid-1940's; didn't Simba ever see a Universal horror movie before?!?!?!  Sheesh. 

At least our hero Dick keeps pointing out there IS a difference when he tells Simba there is no such thing as a vampire OR a werewolf.  See, passive/aggressive correcting by ol' Dick there.  Simba assures Dick that the druggist actually saw the vampire . . . or the werewolf . . . and so did Mrs. Simmons!  Frankly. I suspect old Mrs. Simmons was hitting the sauce.  But rational Dick thinks they saw what they THOUGHT was a vampire . . . OR a werewolf . . . but that it must have been a timber wolf.  Where the hell is Farr Military Academy located??!?!  Forests and timber wolves?!?!?!  Sounds like Canada or something.  Or maybe that very remote Montana that Cheeks was talking about in HIS post today.  Oh wait, they mention they're east of the Mississippi so it's probably Newark.  And there aren't any timber wolves east of the Mississippi.  Oh wait, except NOW there is.  The local paper says a timber wolf escaped from the local circus zoo.  Aw, geez.  Don't tell me it's just a timber wolf.  Does the Legion of Super-Heroes know he's loose?!?!?  Well, the good news is the newspaper also thinks that farmers have already killed the escaped animal because an extensive search has turned up no timber wolf.   Shortly, the dean (or whatever the head of a military academy is called) tasks Dick and his other fred Ted Green to investigate the rumours of a werewolf loose in the area.  Apparently, several plebes swear they have seen a werewolf in their rooms at night and screamed bloody murder the night before.  Dick is still skeptical but they interview both the druggist and Mrs. Simmons and they both seem very convinving that what they saw is indeed a werewolf . . . or a vampire . . . or a werewolf.  It seems like everybody in this episode EXCEPT Dick Cole doesn't know the difference.  However, it's beginning to look like it could be a real werewolf after all and not that silly old timber wolf because Dick & Ted, out at night, here a ghostly howl and then see, with their very own peepers, the werewolf lurking there in the dark:  "a strange, grey, ghost-like shape standing staring at them" with evil, glowing green eyes! 

Nothing to do with this post but super cool

This episode was a hoot AND a nanny!  There may not be a ton of old time radio shows about werewolves but, surprisingly, there are a fair number of them.  Most notably that excellent episode of SUSPENSE starring Robert Taylor called "THE HOUSE IN CYPRESS CANYON" as well as "W IS FOR WEREWOLF" from the horror programme DARK FANTASY and the spectacularly good story arc from I LOVE A MYSTERY called "BURY YOUR DEAD, ARIZONA".  You can listen to this particular Dick Cole werewolf episode (and other episodes as well) on archive.org right here.  Enjoy!