Black Flame of the Amazon 38-xx-xx (01)

Summary

Podcast Summary

Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Black Flame of the Amazon 38-xx-xx (01)
Date: November 17, 2025

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Overview

This episode features the classic radio serial “Black Flame of the Amazon,” a thrilling jungle adventure from the golden age of radio. The story follows Mr. Noyce, renowned explorer, as he attempts to rescue two children and a scientist from the clutches of a villainous treasure-seeker named Butch Grogan deep in the wilds of the Amazon. The episode highlights themes of courage, ingenuity under pressure, and the moral complexity of survival, all set amid a perilous escape attempt using an amphibian airplane.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Highlights

1. Setting the Scene (00:50–02:32)

• Narrator introduces Mr. Noyce and sets up the adventure: he is traveling in Brazil’s Amazon, helping two children, Jean and Jimmy, search for their kidnapped scientist father.
• The villain, Butch Grogan, has stolen a treasure map and kidnaps Jean to force her father to cooperate in finding the Incan treasure. A rescue attempt is underway.

2. Perilous Take-off Attempt (03:44–05:36)

• Tense Escape: Mr. Noyce urges Donovan (the pilot) to take off quickly as hostile Indian warriors approach.
• Obstacle on the River: As the plane attempts to accelerate down the river, a canoe with children is deliberately set adrift in their path—a ruthless ploy by Grogan to delay them.
  • Notable Quote:
    “See, Mr. Grogan again pulled a fast one. Notice that pinner was. No paddles at all. Someone put the Indian children into that dugout and pushed it out into the stream. Grogan did that. He knew he wouldn't run them down. See?”
    — Mr. Noyce (05:12)

3. Moral Dilemma (05:36–06:02)

• The group refuses to endanger the children, even if it means losing their chance to escape.
  • Memorable Moment:
    “We'd just as soon do anything than use little children like that to save our lives.”
    — Jimmy (05:36)

4. Desperate Brainstorming (06:02–08:14)

• The team considers ways to maneuver the loaded plane in the tight river space.
• Jimmy suggests using a rope and the airplane’s eye-bolt to swing the plane downstream.
• Pedro offers to risk swimming to the bank with the rope, demonstrating loyalty and courage, but it appears time has run out as more canoes (now filled with warriors) arrive.

5. Rising Tension: Enemy Forces Gather (08:18–09:01)

• The party notices the arrival of many warrior-filled canoes, making escape impossible.
• A messenger approaches under a white flag—a sign Grogan is about to present terms rather than attack directly.

6. Grogan's Terms and Contingency Plans (09:01–10:49)

• Mr. Noyce receives an ultimatum from Grogan via a written message:
  • Notable Quote (Message Read Aloud):
    “Here, Noyce, your lick and you know it. Better give up quietly and get everybody ashore from that ship right away. And you come last and no monkey business. Now, we've got you covered. Leave your guns in the cabin and get a move on. That's all of it, Mr. Noyce. And he signs it Grogan.”
    — Jimmy (11:24)
• Donovan and Mr. Noyce quietly sabotage the airplane, disabling it in a way only they can reverse, preventing Grogan from using it.

7. Decision to Surrender (12:26–13:03)

• Noyce decides to comply, recognizing the futility of fighting and the need to protect the lives of his companions.
• Pedro provides reassurance:
  • Notable Quote:
    “And the senor will get the weak alarm and fool the Grogan men. So don't worry. We will get out of these messes all right. Okay? You betcha. My life.”
    — Pedro (12:48)

8. Brave Fronts and Cliffhanger Ending (13:03–13:40)

• The children bravely exit the plane first, while Noyce and others follow, armed with a fragile hope that their sabotage will give them a future chance.
• Memorable Farewell:
  • “So long, Mr. Noyce. We'll be seeing you.”
    — Jean Brady (13:23)

9. Narrator’s Tease for Next Episode (13:40–15:50)

• The narrator leaves listeners with suspense:
  • Will Grogan triumph?
  • Can Noyce’s cunning plan save the group?
  • What role will the children play in the unfolding adventure?

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Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |------------|--------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 05:12 | Mr. Noyce | “See, Mr. Grogan again pulled a fast one... He knew he wouldn't run them down. See?” | | 05:36 | Jimmy | “We'd just as soon do anything than use little children like that to save our lives.” | | 11:24 | Jimmy | “[Grogan’s message] ...give up quietly and get everybody ashore... we've got you covered...” | | 12:48 | Pedro | “And the senor will get the weak alarm and fool the Grogan men. So don't worry...You betcha. My life.” | | 13:23 | Jean Brady | “So long, Mr. Noyce. We'll be seeing you.” |

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Key Timestamps

• 00:50: Adventure begins, context introduced
• 03:44: Tense takeoff attempt
• 05:12–05:36: Canoe ploy and group’s moral stand
• 09:07: Arrival of Grogan’s messenger
• 11:24: Grogan’s ultimatum read aloud
• 12:26: Decision to leave the plane
• 13:23: The children's brave exit and setup for next episode
• 13:40–15:50: Cliffhanger narration

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully blends action, suspense, and character-driven decisions, capturing the spirit of old time radio adventure. The crew faces peril at every turn—not just from the natural dangers of the Amazon, but from Grogan’s ruthless cunning. The episode ends on a tense cliffhanger, promising more dramatic developments and daring heroics in the next installment.

Listeners are left eager to find out if sabotage, wit, and courage can thwart the villain and ensure our heroes’ survival.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

The Black Flame of the Amazon, featuring.

[Hal Noyce]

Hal Noyce, world famous explorer in person.

[Narrator]

At the head of a party, Mr. Noyce is pushing up country toward the sources of the Amazon river into the wild jungle lands of faraway Brazil. Quite accidentally, he runs across two young children who are in trouble. They have been searching for their father, a scientist who is on the hunt for a fabled treasure of the Incas. This scientist has been taken prisoner and held in a remote Indian village at the instigation of a renegade white man named Butch Rogan. This Rogan is a villain, having stolen a treasure map and a valuable paper on which is a secret code by which the map may be translated. Not yet satisfied, Grogan kidnaps the little girl, Miss Jean Brady, meaning to use her as a method by which he can compel her father, James Brady, to lead the way to the treasure. Mr. Noyce learns where Ms. Jean has been hidden and with the aid of an amphibian aeroplane, goes to the rescue, succeeds in getting the little girl aboard just as the Indian warriors come yelling to the river's edge. At this moment, the cabin hatch on the plane has been closed and Mr. Noyce has just told Pat Donovan to get into the air as quickly as possible. But the river, a little stream flowing into the Amazon, is narrow and tropical trees hang out over the water. It's a tense moment.

[Mr. Noyce]

On your way, Donovan. Quick, get out of here. Take it up. Now, go ahead.

[Hal Noyce]

Okay, Mr. Noyce. Now, it ain't going to be easy. This ship is loaded. Haven't got much of a run for the takeoff, you know.

[Narrator]

Go ahead and try it.

[Mr. Noyce]

We've got to get.

[Hal Noyce]

Well, then hold everything. Now, just give me a second to warm her up a bit. No use getting up over the trees and then stalling. Just give me a little bit to warm it up. We should be headed downstream. Why, sure. Look, there's the bend in the river right ahead of us.

[Jimmy]

Well, why can't we turn you around?

[Hal Noyce]

Gosh, we've got lots of room for takeoff, then. Yes, Jimmy, if. But we had to just guess at it when we set her down here. We didn't have Time enough to do anything else.

[Mr. Noyce]

Donovan, if we don't get out now, we may never get out now.

[Hal Noyce]

It's up to you. I know it, Mr. Noyce, and we might as well try it, I guess. But if I get a wing tip caught in a big lianas hanging along the shoreline. Well, well, you fellas better get down on the floor of the cabin and hang on tight. Here goes. Gosh, she's heavy. All right. If we just had a little more headwind, but in this jungle. You.

[Jean Brady]

Look out, Pat. Look out up ahead.

[Hal Noyce]

The canoe coming out the middle of the river. Oh, knock. We'll hit them. The pontoon. We can't leave the service before we're on them. A trick. A trick. Michael, cut the switch.

[Mr. Noyce]

Donovan, hurry, man. We can't run that canoe down.

[Hal Noyce]

Don't you see? It contains children.

[Mr. Noyce]

Just little children.

[Jimmy]

A trick, Mr. Noyce. What do you mean?

[Mr. Noyce]

See, Mr. Grogan again pulled a fast one. Notice that pinner was. No paddles at all. Someone put the Indian children into that dugout and pushed it out into the stream. Grogan did that. He knew he wouldn't run them down. See?

[Jean Brady]

Where's Mr. Noyce? He uses little children to stop us. He knew this ship couldn't rise off the surface of the river until it got a good run.

[Mr. Noyce]

Yes. The canoe with the children. If we wanted to get into the air, we'd have to run into that canoe.

[Jimmy]

Yes, sir. And you know what would have happened? Oh, well, Mr. Noyce, I guess Gene and me, we'd just as soon do anything than use little children like that to save our lives.

[Mr. Noyce]

I'm glad to hear you say that, Jimmy. We seem to agree on a lot of things. Hurting, maiming or drowning. Even little savage Indian kiddies.

[Jean Brady]

Oh, you're right, Mr. Noy. That's out. But now what do we do?

[Mr. Noyce]

I don't exactly know, but we might as well get prepared to put up a fight. It's the only way we can deal with Grogan.

[Hal Noyce]

Yes, but where is Grogan? He isn't showing his face.

[Narrator]

Look.

[Hal Noyce]

Look over there among the bushes, Eh? In behind every tree, a wild woolly Indian. But no Grogan.

[Mr. Noyce]

Grogan knows better than to show his face.

[Jimmy]

That bird is yellow, Mr. Noyce. Pure yellow.

[Jean Brady]

He certainly is. Anybody that would pull a stunt like that shove a canoe load of helpless little Indian children out in front of whirling propellers. He's a yellow coward, all right.

[Hal Noyce]

Gosh, Mr. Noyce, if we could only turn this bus around, header downstream. Why, then we could make it.

[Jimmy]

Say, I Got an idea. We've got a rope in the cabin Here.

[Pedro]

Listen.

[Jimmy]

There's a little eye bolt on the.

[Narrator]

Roof of the ship.

[Jean Brady]

You mean that little round thing they used when they were loading this ship and unloading it from the steamer?

[Jimmy]

That's the one. And we could tie the rope through that iron thing. And then we could get the other end tied to a tree on the shore.

[Hal Noyce]

Well, now, say, that would do it. If we could get the rope fastened, then I could swing my rudders away over, give her the gun, and between our own power and the current of the stream here. Well, maybe we could do it.

[Jimmy]

Gee, that's swell. Jean, open the cabin hatch.

[Jean Brady]

Okay.

[Jimmy]

Now, here's where I do some swell things for my country. I'm going to get that rope on a tree or know the reason why.

[Mr. Noyce]

Jimmy, you're staying inside this cabin. No argument. Now, I know how you feel, and it's well of you to volunteer, but you mustn't go. Pedro, stand by. I'm going.

[Pedro]

I beg the pardon, Senor Noyce. Pedro, she was the one what was going. I am the better climbing person, just like the capuchin monkey. And I have the much more experience with the. The aruplan.

[Mr. Noyce]

Listen, Pedro, it's a dangerous job. Rogan is very likely hiding on the riverbank with a gun.

[Pedro]

Ah, that is so, senor. But I am the better swimmer in these sheep. Yes.

[Mr. Noyce]

No, I admit it. You are a wonderful swimmer, Pedro.

[Pedro]

Then it is what you call it. It is all honky dooley. I take the rope, I dive.

[Hal Noyce]

No, no, no, no.

[Pedro]

I do not dive. But I slip into the water, yes, Very, very quietly. And I swim, like everything, to the river bank, under the water, you see? Then I tie the rope and bring the other end back.

[Jimmy]

And then.

[Mr. Noyce]

Yes, I see. It's a dandy idea, Pedro, but it won't work. Too late.

[Pedro]

Too late. But I can go now, quick, like everything.

[Jean Brady]

Look. Canoes.

[Pedro]

Canoes.

[Jean Brady]

Dozens of them coming up the Stream.

[Mr. Noyce]

I know. Ms. Jean just saw them a moment ago. That's why I just told Pedro it was too late now.

[Pedro]

Si, senor. And now, even if we do turn those other way, we cannot get past these canoes. Look, this canoe, senor, they do not have the little children. It is warriors, senor. We are fighting warriors. What matter how we fight?

[Mr. Noyce]

Oh, it's not the fight I'm thinking about. I don't want this plane damaged. Donovan understands.

[Hal Noyce]

Yes, sir. Now, if we try to get past those dugouts, we may strike one with the propeller blades. They'll snap just like a broken match. Propellers don't stand much rough work, you know.

[Mr. Noyce]

Wait. I sort of expected this. Here comes a messenger from Grogan, an Indian warrior.

[Jean Brady]

And he's carrying a stick with a white handkerchief tied to it.

[Mr. Noyce]

Yes, he's Grogan's messenger. Indians, as a rule, don't use white handkerchiefs. So you can figure Grogan is in on this.

[Jimmy]

There he goes into the water. Gee, he didn't dive in. He just sort of waited and then he slid in.

[Jean Brady]

He's got something white in his teeth, too.

[Mr. Noyce]

It's probably a written message from Grogan. We'll soon know what Grogan has in his mind, and he no doubt has plenty.

[Jimmy]

Say, I know, let's grab this Indian messenger when he gets here.

[Mr. Noyce]

What good would that do, Jimmy? Listen, son, you don't double cross the flag of truth. A true white man never does. A white flag always gets protection. Understand?

[Jimmy]

Oh, heck, Mr. Noyce, excuse me. I knew that well enough, but, well, I guess I just got excited.

[Mr. Noyce]

I know it. All right, Jimmy, now open the hatch. And Pedro, you reach out and get that message. I'll just keep this rifle trained on the riverbank just in case Grogan tries to get in some more dirty work.

[Hal Noyce]

Oh, say, Mr. Noyce, the ship is drifting with the current and edging toward the bank. Now we'll get our wings or pontoon stuck at any moment.

[Mr. Noyce]

Yes, and so much the better. But listen, Donovan, is there anything you can do to disable this ship?

[Hal Noyce]

You mean put it out of commission for good? Well, sure, we can set fire to it, but what?

[Mr. Noyce]

No, no, no. We need this amphibian. We don't dare destroy it. But can it be disabled temporarily?

[Hal Noyce]

Oh, sure, Mr. Noyce. A lot of ways to do that.

[Mr. Noyce]

Then get busy and fix it so that Grogan can't get her away from here. Fix it so the damage doesn't show on the outside. You see what I mean?

[Hal Noyce]

Oh, yes, yes, I get you. I'll just take out a couple of little gadgets.

[Mr. Noyce]

Yes, and be sure to hide them where you can find them easily, at a moment's notice.

[Hal Noyce]

Well, now, you just leave that to me. You know, I haven't been around these ships for all these years for nothing. I'll fix her so that the only person who ever gets her purse again will be Pat Donovan in person.

[Mr. Noyce]

That's the stuff.

[Pedro]

Senor. Senor. Here is the little love letter, senor. Look, the Indian, he back home very much afraid of this aeroplane.

[Mr. Noyce]

Let me have it, Pedro.

[Hal Noyce]

Oh, Mr. Noyce. Now, here, hold this flashlight so as I can see to cut this wire to the magneto.

[Mr. Noyce]

Okay, that's most important. Here, Jimmy, you take that message and read it out loud and hurry.

[Jimmy]

Well, let's see here. Gosh, he doesn't say very much. Listen to this. He says, here, Noyce, your lick and you know it better give up quietly and get everybody ashore form that ship right away. And you. He spells that word in capitals, Mr. Noyce. And you come last and no monkey business. Now, we've got you covered. Leave your guns in the cabin and get a move on. That's all of it, Mr. Noyce. And he signs it Grogan.

[Mr. Noyce]

He didn't even have to do that. I'd recognize that kind of letter without a signature.

[Hal Noyce]

Okay, Mr. Noyce. Look, I got here just two little pieces of wire. Now, if anyone finds out where they were cut from, well, then I'm crazy.

[Mr. Noyce]

Splendid. This will put a damper on Grogan's spirits.

[Hal Noyce]

Now, look, I'm just going to bend these wires into a thing just like a hairpin and stick it in me hair. Even though they search me, they'll never find this wire.

[Mr. Noyce]

All fit then. Might as well get ashore, everybody.

[Jimmy]

Mr. Noyce, couldn't we sort of put up a scrap? We still got the ship and the guns.

[Mr. Noyce]

A man who was wise to the jungle quickly recognizes when the cards are stacked against him. A scrap, as you call it, would be the most dangerous thing we could do. We're outnumbered at least 100 to 1.

[Jean Brady]

Yes, Jimmy. We better do exactly as Mr. Norris says. He knows best.

[Pedro]

See, senorita? And the senor will get the weak alarm and fool the Grogan men. So don't worry. We will get out of these messes all right. Okay? You betcha. My life.

[Jean Brady]

Well, Mr. Pedro, if you can smile through this, guess it won't hurt me to try it.

[Mr. Noyce]

That's the stuff, Gene. But come on now, get your guns out of the holsters. Oh, better yet, leave holsters and all. Jimmy and Jean, you two go first together, and we'll watch.

[Jean Brady]

Okay. No time like now, I guess.

[Jimmy]

Well, we're on our way, Mr. Noyce. Come on, Gene, let's jump.

[Jean Brady]

So long, Mr. Noyce. We'll be seeing you.

[Narrator]

With a brave smile and a cheery, I'll be seeing you off. They go. Ahead of them is Grogan and a band of howling Indians. At last, Grogan has the upper hand. But what's in store for Gene and Jim? And what happens to Mr. Noyce and Pedro? Does Pat Donovan succeed in really fooling Grogan about the ship being disabled. Has Mr. Noyce a plan in mind? Or is it the children who pull a fast one? You will learn more about this enthralling adventure when you tune in next time. Don't miss a single episode.

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