Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Rain on New Year's Eve (Quiet, Please, 1947-12-29)
Date: December 31, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode Overview

Harold’s Old Time Radio presents the classic radio play "Rain on New Year’s Eve," an episode of the legendary series Quiet, Please, written and directed by Willis Cooper and starring Ernest Chappell. This dark, psychological tale blurs the lines between reality and horror as it follows a weary screenwriter on a Hollywood horror film set, driven to the edge by relentless pressures, a temperamental director, and a monstrous creation that may not be confined to fiction.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Setting: Rain, Hollywood, and a Fraying Mind

• The story unfolds on a rainy New Year's Eve, with Ramsey, the screenwriter, reminiscing about another similarly dismal night spent locked in the thankless grind of B-movie production in Los Angeles.
• Rain becomes a motif, reflecting Ramsey’s mounting exhaustion and frustration.

Life on a “B Picture” Set

• Ramsey describes the chaos and grind of low-budget horror filmmaking, belabored by indecisive producer Mr. Doty and a convoluted script.
• Quotes explore the absurdity of Hollywood's working conditions—a director who “makes the picture up as he goes along” and a film with an ever-increasing number of monsters.

Memorable Exchange:

Mary Lou (Ramsey's secretary): "Are we ever going to finish this picture, for heaven's sake?" (03:18)
Ramsey: "If we leave it to Mr. Dooley, this here picture ain’t never gonna be finished. A hundred years from now, somebody will come upstairs here and they'll find an old, old man with a long white beard beating out the 59th revision of scene 456." (03:28)

The Monster and Its Origins

• Ramsey recounts how he invented the monster: based on an old book, with the chilling trait, “He didn't have any face. You take it from there.” (07:15)
• The harmless actor, Ollie Tharp, is cast to play the monster, highlighting the paradox between artifice and horror.

The Director’s Demands and Writer’s Fatigue

• Mr. Doty, the demanding director, is the bane of Ramsey's existence, constantly requiring rewrites and changes, especially as the film’s deadline looms.
• Ramsey’s exhaustion is palpable; he has sacrificed holidays, sleep, and sanity for the interminable project.

Notable Line:

Ramsey: "I didn't have any Thanksgiving. I ate a bent ham sandwich in my office that day, because Mr. Doty had to have three new scenes Friday morning...I didn't have any Christmas. I locked the door on my office and baked my brains out." (14:23)

The Monster’s Power and the Doomed New Year

• The script’s central gimmick: The monster has power only during the last hour of the year, heightening the parallel between Ramsey’s unraveling reality and the fictional horror.

Exchange:

Mary Lou: "Oh, that's what you said last night."
Ramsey: "I was kidding. You know, this monster only has power the last hour of the year." (10:26–10:34)

Frayed Relationships and Vulnerability

• As New Year's approaches, moments of tenderness slip through the fatigue between Ramsey and Mary Lou, the only two who seem to care for each other amid the studio madness.

Tender Moment:

Ramsey: "Anybody ever tell you you’re a nice gal?"
Mary Lou: "Couple of people."
Ramsey: "I could marry a gal like you."
Mary Lou: "Don’t kid people, Ramsey." (18:31–18:43)

The Macabre Dream

• Ramsey, overtired, slides into a nightmare in which the fiction of the faceless monster and his resentment toward Doty collide—blurring the lines between dream and reality.
• In his dream, the monster (mirroring Ramsey’s own repressed rage) kills Doty, and as Ramsey awakes, reality and horror overlap.

Memorable Sequence:

"I saw the monster’s big hairy hands grab Doty, and Doty screamed. The monster’s hands were fumbling at Doty’s neck...When I raised my hand to look at it, right across the thick of my palm were teeth marks. Deep, bloody teeth marks where Doty had bit me when I strangled him." (20:36–21:43)

The Grisly Aftermath

• Ramsey wakes to find Mary Lou dead from terror, her face frozen in horror.
• News bursts in: Ollie Tharp (the actor inside the monster suit) and Doty are both dead.
• Ramsey discovers incriminating bite marks on his own hand, suggesting he fulfilled the monster’s role during the fateful final hour of New Year’s Eve—unwittingly possessed by his own creation.

The Eerie Conclusion

• Ramsey’s closing words become a chilling warning about the power of imagination and the darkness within the human mind.

Coda:

"That’s why I say never take any of those old books too seriously. Remember I said I wished I was a monster? Remember what the book said: the monster only possessed his murderous power for one hour—the last hour of the year. New Year's Eve again, and it's raining. Got anybody you want murdered?" (21:47–22:21)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Monster Description:
  "He didn't have any face. You take it from there. But don’t kid yourself. He was a thing." (07:15)

• On Studio Life:
  "That guy could make a B picture out of the signing of the Declaration of Independence even if he had the original cast." (12:33)

• Overworked and Undervalued:
  "I, my friend, damn near lost my mind all the time Mr. Dobie [the director]." (14:23)

• Nightmare and Reality Collide:
  "When I raised my hand to look at it, right across the thick of my palm were teeth marks...where Doty had bit me when I strangled him." (21:39)

• Haunting Closing Question:
  "Got anybody you want murdered?" (22:21)

Important Segments with Timestamps

• Setting the Scene & Studio Satire: 00:03–06:30
• Monster’s Origin & Movie Madness: 06:30–09:30
• Final Push to New Year’s Deadline: 09:30–14:23
• Ramsey’s Exhaustion and Tenderness with Mary Lou: 17:47–19:00
• Dream Sequence – The Monster Strikes: 19:00–21:43
• Disturbing Awakening & Conclusion: 21:43–end

Tone and Legacy

With dry, sardonic humor and dark, atmospheric narration, "Rain on New Year's Eve" explores the blurred boundaries between creativity, desperation, and inner demons. The episode offers an atmospheric look at show business’s underbelly during the Golden Age of Radio, wrapped in the trappings of supernatural horror—a haunting listen for fans of vintage radio drama or psychological suspense.

For the Curious

• Actors: Ernest Chappell (Ramsey), Muriel Kirkland (Mary Lou), Pat O’Malley (Doty)
• Original Air Date: December 29, 1947
• Series: Quiet, Please (Mutual Broadcasting System)

If you love tales where Hollywood’s shadows come alive, where the rain never quite stops, and where monsters might be closer than you think, this episode is essential listening.