The Whisperer
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The Whisperer was an American old-time radio program which broadcast 13 episodes from July 8 to September 30, 1951 on NBC.
Lawyer Philip Gault (Carleton G. Young), due to an unexplained accident, lost his voice and can only speak in an eerie whisper. Gault infiltrates "the syndicate" in his native Central City to bring down organized crime from within; to the underworld, he becomes known as the Whisperer. Later, his voice is restored through surgery, but he continues to lead a double life as the Whisperer, relaying instructions from the syndicate bosses in New York (who don't know he's a mole) to their lackeys in Central City, whom Gault is actually setting up.
By today's standards, the stories are dated and their message-mongering usually criticized as ham-fisted, the product of what might be considered the unenlightened attitudes of the time. The first episode ("Tea Time for Teenagers") is typical, an overwrought "it can happen here" melodrama about a syndicate plot to create "200 regular marijuana addicts" among high school students. The episode makes a blatant appeal to the moral indignation of its audience, ending with Gault advising PTA's to "show some of the fine educational films available on marijuana and how it leads to a worse addiction."
Betty Moran portrayed Gault's girlfriend, Ellen, the only person who knows Gault's double identity. Moran had to deliver lines like, "But marijuana means broken lives, heartbreak for parents!"
The radio actor Carleton G. Young is sometimes confused with the film actor Carleton Scott Young.
