Relic Radio Thrillers: "Professor Calvin and the Voice" (The Chase, Jan 11, 1953)

Podcast: Relic Radio Thrillers
Episode Title: Professor Calvin and the Voice
Original Air Date: January 11, 1953
Podcast Release Date: August 30, 2025
Host: RelicRadio.com

Overview

This episode of Relic Radio Thrillers features an installment from NBC’s "The Chase," titled "Professor Calvin and the Voice." The story delves into psychological suspense, chronicling Professor George Calvin's chilling descent into a battle with his own psyche, exploring the classic themes of dual identity and the darkness lurking beneath everyday life. As Calvin’s ordinary existence twists into a nightmarish ordeal, he is compelled to confront a sinister voice—his alter ego—that tempts him toward murder.

Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. Introduction to Professor Calvin and the Theme of Duality

• [01:53] Professor Calvin introduces himself to the audience as a practical, sober-minded associate professor of psychology. He stresses his lack of frivolity and routine lifestyle.

  • “For my entire life in and out of the classroom has been precisely that. ... All of which cannot account for the fact that I have just undergone an experience so horrifying and revolting that it has aged me 20 years in mind, in body and in soul.”

• Calvin’s lecture on split personalities (schizophrenia) sets a foreboding parallel for what he is about to experience:

  • “The idea of one man's character and habits actually changing continually within his own mind ... a perennial chase, as it were, as to which shall be the dominating force.” [03:33]

2. Encounters with the Mysterious Stranger / The Voice

• [05:39] Calvin’s ordinary walk home becomes unsettling when he is approached by a mysterious, rough-speaking man who seems to know his thoughts and desires.

  • Notable quote: “You like a book, mister? ... Them diamond cufflinks, now, you'd look pretty swell dialed up in those.” (Stranger, [05:51])

• The stranger unnerves Calvin, following him persistently both in public and up to his own home.

  • Calvin’s growing sense of dread escalates as the stranger disappears and reappears inexplicably, evading both Calvin and a nearby policeman ([06:16-08:47]).

3. Domestic Strain and Internal Turmoil

• [11:01] At home, Calvin’s wife Nancy notices his distracted, withdrawn behavior. Calvin internally scorns her mundane concerns, revealing emotional alienation.

  • “There's nothing wrong with Nancy except the fact that her mind functions in minute circles that only center around such things as asparagus and ripe tomatoes. ... She has very little wit and even less imagination.” ([12:28])

• Calvin, unable to confide in her, returns to wandering the city—drawn to a seedy bar at the stranger’s suggestion, a setting far removed from his respectable life ([13:01–15:59]).

4. Crisis of Identity – Realization of Split Personality

• [16:00+] Alone in “Charlie’s Bar,” Calvin faces the stranger, who claims to know him “like a book.” Their tension escalates; Calvin grows more convinced that the stranger is a living manifestation of his darker self.

  • Notable exchange:
    • “There's something weird about you. ... You're no ghost. Why do you act like one?” (Calvin, [16:07])
    • “You know how real I am, Professor. You know I'm not a ghost. Feel my arm if you…” (Stranger, [16:18])

• After a disturbing phone call home is traced to the stranger (who claims intimacy with Calvin), Calvin clings to proof that the man is "real" and not just a figment ([17:38]).

5. The Manifested Alter Ego’s Proposition

• [22:00] On the waterfront, Calvin confronts the truth: the stranger is his alter ego, “the other half of my split personality.”

  • Key acknowledgment:
    • “Oh, you're me.” (Calvin, [22:01])
    • “That's right, Professor.” (Stranger, [22:06])

• The alter ego tempts Calvin with the prospect of an exciting, lawless life, urging him to kill his wife for inheritance and freedom.

  • Chilling proposition:
    • "You open the window and push her out, it'll look like an accident. Remember that spiked railing you put around the garden? ... Or, remember the gun you bought ... If you shot her, you can say you made a mistake." (Stranger, [23:48–25:12])

• The alter ego insists Calvin secretly hates his wife and despises his own dull, constricted life, pushing him to “live like you always wanted to live.”

6. Race Against the Self and Climax

• Calvin cannot shake the compulsion, frightened that his repressed desires may truly turn violent.

  • He runs home, desperate and breathless: “I’ve been running—From whom? From what? —From myself.” ([26:17])

• He warns Nancy to trust only his “real” voice and pleads for police help, but realizes the danger is within.

  • In panic, he begs Nancy to shoot him with his own gun before it's “too late.” ([26:39])

• In the final confrontation, the line between self and alter ego blurs, with the stranger demanding the gun from Nancy, building to an ambiguous, chaotic struggle.

7. The Reveal: It Was All a Dream – But Was It?

• [27:47] Calvin awakens in his lecture hall, Ms. Reed rousing him from a troubled nap—it was “just” a dream.

  • “I’m still here in my lecture room. I didn’t leave school at all.” (Calvin, [27:52])

• However, as he walks out with Nancy, the stranger reappears at the jewelry store window, his words echoing those from the dream—leaving the story with a chilling uncertainty as to reality.

  • Notable quote:
    • “Neat, huh, Nancy?” (Stranger, [28:44])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On duality:
  • “A perennial chase, as it were, as to which shall be the dominating force.” – Professor Calvin ([03:33])
• First encounter with the voice:
  • “You like a book, mister? Like a regular book. Them diamond cufflinks, now, you'd look pretty swell dialed up in those.” – Stranger ([05:51])
• Realization of internal struggle:
  • “Oh, you’re me.” – Professor Calvin ([22:01])
  • “That’s right, Professor.” – Stranger ([22:06])
• The alter ego's temptation:
  • “You open the window and push her out, it'll look like an accident ... Or, remember the gun you bought ...” – Stranger ([23:48], [25:02])
• On running from oneself:
  • “I’ve been running—From whom? From what? —From myself.” – Professor Calvin ([26:17])
• Closing ambiguity:
  • “Neat, huh, Nancy?” – Stranger ([28:44])

Important Timestamps

• [01:53] Calvin’s introduction & theme of duality explained
• [05:37–09:55] Series of encounters with the mysterious stranger
• [11:01–12:28] Domestic tension and emotional isolation
• [13:01–16:07] Confrontation in Charlie’s Bar; reality begins to fracture
• [22:00–26:05] Realization and alter ego’s explicit proposition
• [26:05–27:28] Climax, confrontation, and collapse
• [27:47–28:58] Awakening: dream reveal and lingering uncertainty

Tone and Style

The episode delivers suspense and dread in a classic noir radio style, deploying first-person narration that blurs reality and fantasy. Calvin’s narrative voice is clinical, skeptical, and increasingly desperate, while his alter ego is brash, crude, streetwise—contrasting aspects of the self. The dream sequence and open-ended finish leave a haunting aftertaste, true to the suspense radio tradition.

Summary for First-Time Listeners

"Professor Calvin and the Voice" is a tightly wrought psychological thriller about the battle between repression and desire, sanity and madness. Through chilling dialogue and escalating confrontation, the story explores the idea that our greatest fears may spring from within. Listeners are left questioning the boundaries of reality, the power of the subconscious, and whether the true chase is not with others but with ourselves.