Radio Recap: Cloak & Dagger

The second actual episode of Escape (one of my all-time favourite radio programs) is quite unlike the bulk of the series and utterly unlike the other episodes surrounding it. It's titled "Operation Fleur de Lys" and it's a World War II story about two OSS agents (played by Jack Webb & Elliott Lewis) who go behind the lines to reinforce a French maquis against the Nazis. In the course of events they discover a traitor and have to execute a bloody sentence against them. Listen to it at the Internet Archive here.

But at this stage in its development, Escape was principally adapting older stories of fiction, particularly public domain works. "Operation Fleur de Lys" is based on actual events which happened just a few years before its 1947 broadcast. I understood the 1946 book Sub Rosa: The O.S.S. and American Espionage by Stewart Alsop & Thomas Braden was the source of this story so, out of my interest in Escape I recently read the book.

It's a very simple book - that is, it was written in very simple English. Like, if it had been placed on a shelf next to a Hardy Boys adventure it could have played pretty well to that audience. Even though the book is about espionage and spycraft during World War II, the very basic language makes the events it describes sound... not so bad. Many of the stories within were titled "Operation_____" but there was no "Operation Fleur de Lys" and I began to fear I wouldn't find it. The story finally appeared near the end of the book. Escape's adaptation was very faithful; the somber tone of the story really stuck out in Sub Rosa.

This reminded me that there was another old-time radio program connected to the O.S.S.: Cloak and Dagger. This one was also based on a 1946 book about the O.S.S., this one entitled Cloak and Dagger: The Secret Story of the O.S.S. by Corey Ford and Alastair MacBain (I couldn't find a copy to read for myself). I had never been able to finish that 1950 radio series before (even though there are merely 22 episodes; here they are on Youtube). When I heard the first episode I was very engaged and intrigued at what a series about wartime spies would be like. However, when I finally decided I would go through the series episode-by-episode I was soon discouraged.

You see, Cloak and Dagger was an NBC radio program. I've complained about them on this blog before. NBC fell into this pattern of using a lot of canned music, not only recycling the same musical score in every episode of a series but then recycling that music for other programs. They also had a tendency to use the same small pool of actors again and again. It does get tiring. But, as I have had some time to kill here in Angola, I decided to finish the series and hear every episode.

The series is certainly not one to 'marathon' because of the sameness between episodes. There are also elements which give one pause; after all, it's a series which celebrates the O.S.S. It's almost quaint, reading Sub Rosa, to learn of a time when the USA was cautious about the idea of employing an intelligence agency. But, natch, from the O.S.S. came the C.I.A. and a lot of international grief. Then too, it's a radio program of its time. As the adventures of the O.S.S. agents represented on the show were active in other nations it means the actors were frequently called on to supply accents. The various European accents mostly sound fake in a theatrical way; the various Asian accents, though, tip into racism.

Yet for all that, there are a few episodes of Cloak and Dagger which I think are worthwhile to mention: "The Swastika on the Windmill" relates a story which I read about in Sub Rosa about a spy who was caught but was able to both alert the Allies of his capture while making the Germans think he was cooperating with them. "The Last Mission" takes a welcome turn from the usual formula as it's about a civilian woman who is gradually recruited to help an undercover O.S.S. agent in China. And "Windfall" is about a grifter who ends up with vital intelligence that could help the Allies, but he'd rather sell it to the highest bidder.

Cloak and Dagger is... not bad. It's certainly great to hear Raymond Edward Johnson in nearly episode as the host and head of O.S.S.

Lubango Vlog: Walking to Work

I've mentioned Lubango a lot on this blog. But what does this city of an estimated 1.5 million actually look like? This video of me walking to work should help illustrate.

Lubango Vlog Continues!

My vlog at Youtube is continuing to update at odd intervals; here's my latest, a brief tour of where I live in Lubango:

Angola in the Comics #17: Biff Powers and the Missing Scientist

It's time for another entry of Angola in the Comics in which I, a comic book writer and researcher living in Angola, examine a comic book set in the nation of Angola and puzzle over whether it bears any relationship to reality.

I've already featured Biff Powers twice on this blog: in the first entry of this series he encountered the Wolf Man of Angola and in my most recent previous post I looked at his quest for the Giants of Angola. I have no idea who was creating this series (the Grand Comics Database thinks the artist might have been August Froelich but they have no clues to the writer's identity) but they clearly had an interest in Angola because, once again, I have a Biff Powers story to share with you - this one from Starling Comics Vol.2 #3 (April, 1941).

I took some time to skim over Biff's other appearances, wondering which of them might be set in Angola, so now I'm pretty well-versed in what Biff's stories are like and they certainly have a set pattern. As always, it starts with Biff meeting with the head of the Carson Circus. But instead of finding a new attraction for the circus, the owner brings up the missing Dr. Andrew Knight who, in the grand tradition of Dr. Livingstone, is missing in Africa. What's the circus' interest in him? (I mean, I don't think they want him in a cage) It's simply good publicity. Very well.

Usually Biff is opposed by a rival circus but this time men representing a "Fatherland" who all have German names like "Kassel" want to stop him. I have no idea what nation they might represent, it's a mystery. They send him a threatening letter which he ignores so they kidnap him and tie him up inside a house, then light it on fire. Fortunately his girlfriend Marcia (who appears in all of his adventures) comes to his rescue in something of a twist on the formula (usually someone kidnaps her to keep Biff from going to Africa). Biff and Marcia go to depart aboard a ship bound for Ambriz. And that's our connection to Angola! Ambriz is indeed a port city on the coast of Angola. I'm impressed that the author chose a real port and didn't even draw attention to it.

Aboard the ship, Kassel the spy tries to murder Biff by throwing him overboard but Biff narrowly avoids death. Arriving in Ambriz, Biff and Marcia are met by Weki, their guide. Weki has been in all of the stories I've featured on the blog so far. He's also in almost every Biff Powers story, or so it seems, but I'm still not sure if Weki is supposed to be Angolan. Still, he certainly seems to live around there, não é? Biff is attacked by an elephant but he kills it; that's a peril that lasts all of 3 panels (not the most dramatic man vs. nature battle ever put to paper). After that, Biff arms Weki and the other porters with rifles. Soon after they're attacked by "savages" but drive them off with the guns.

Investigating the men who attacked them, Biff encounters what looks to be some kind of python, but he kills it within two panels (seriously, man vs. snake can be a story in itself when done right). Arriving in a nearby village, Biff discovers Dr. Knight is a prisoner of Kassel who is apparently working with the men who attacked Biff's party. Kassel is whipping Dr. Knight for the location of paranium deposits he found (uranium asked for too much money to appear in this story?). Kassel's allies quickly take Biff prisoner.

But now we return to the real heroes of this series: Marcia and Weki. Deciding Biff has been away too long, they set after them. But by this time, Dr. Knight has given up the location of the paranium. As his reward, Kassel has Biff and Dr. Knight tied, half of their limbs tied to different bent saplings. When the trees are cut free they will tear the men apart! Fortunately Weki and the other men arrive and rescue them. Kassel draws a gun on Biff but Marcia pulls out a pistol and shoots Kassel dead (why isn't she the protagonist?). Dr. Knight apologizes for giving in to torture but Biff figures that mine "can produce enough explosive to make America supreme!" Well, that sounds like a happy ending!

This stories are certainly of their time but I do appreciate that the anonymous author did a little bit of research. And Marcia is certainly no damsel in distress this time out, which was pretty rare in 1941. But how does this entry score?

• +1 estrela for using a real location in Angola (Ambriz)
• +2 estrelas for using two animals found in Angola (elephant & python)
• -1 estrela for calling uranium "paranium" (but there's a lot of uranium in Namibia so this isn't such a bad call)

TOTAL SCORE: Dois estrelas! I hope you had fun!