Radio Recap: John Steele, Adventurer

Just when I thought I'd heard it all...

John Steele, Adventurer is a series I had somehow never heard a single episode of until I sought it out. It ran on Mutual for many years: 1949-1956. There seem to be only 49 episodes which still exist.

Based on the title, you might think sounds like an adventure program about a two-fisted hero type who roams from one exotic locale to another. You're... partially right. For a considerable time, John Steele, Adventurer was narrated by the titular Steele, but he wasn't the lead character. Instead he would appear at some point in the drama as a minor side character who witnessed the drama of the story. Because Steele always wanders into different odd jobs his appearances feel very random. There's no reason these minor characters from one episode to the next should be the same man, except that it gives Steele an excuse to be present for the episode's drama.

If you step into this program expecting to hear the Mutual equivalent to Escape you might be disappointed. Escape featured stories of man vs. man (ie, "The Most Dangerous Game") and man vs. nature (ie, "Three Skeleton Key"). Less frequent were the psychological dramas of a man wrestling with his inner turmoil, but such episodes did exist (ie, "Action").

John Steele, Adventurer was, surprisingly, a psychological drama. It was less concerned with physical conflict than with mental conflict. Frequently the stories involved someone coping with a traumatic past, such as the ex-sailor who finds himself in a lighthouse and forced to confront his fear of water ("Lighthouse Twelve"). So not only does this series seldom feature its titular hero as the protagonist, but the adventures tend to occur within men's minds. The program's definition of 'adventure' is a little looser than that of other programs.

Now, the show did change as it developed - about halfway through the surviving episodes, Steele becomes a more conventional adventure hero. Even then, there are a few later episodes where he reverts to his role as the narrator. Still, this show is really unlike any other radio adventure program you've heard. Give it a listen, it might be just what you want to hear. The Old-Time Radio Researchers Group have a YouTube playlist of this series.