RADIO ACTION THEATER - THE UNTOUCHABLE DR. WILSON -- Part 2

THE UNTOUCHABLE DR. WILSON -- Part 2

03/14/20 • 28 min

In the aftermath of Wilson's victory in his campaign to become New Jersey's governor in 1910, Boss Jim Smith comes to collect his reward -- Wilson's support for Smith to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. But Democratic voters have decided in a non-binding primary that one James L. Martine is their choice for the Senate. Wilson's refusal to back Smith after Smith had backed him ignites a struggle for power between New Jersey Democratic party bosses and the party's insurgent wing, now backing Wilson. Wilson launches a public campaign on behalf of a progressive agenda of workmen's compensation and safety, an end to child labor, government regulation of the economy and an end to machine politics. In the end Jersey City's Boss Davis goes for Wilson, and Boss Smith is defeated. Woodrow Wilson emerges as a leading contender as president of the United States in 1912.
Produced by Charles Potter and Robert Clem. Written and directed by Robert Clem and aired on the Pacifica network in 1992. Original music score by Donald Stark. With:

Timothy Jerome as Woodrow Wilson
Merwin Goldsmith as Boss Smith
Jack Gilpin as Joe Tumulty
Ed Steele as George B.M. Harvey
Ron Marshall as Boss Davis
Earl Hammond as Jim Nugent
Mitchell Jason as the Narrator

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Timothy Jerome as Woodrow Wilson
Merwin Goldsmith as Boss Smith
Jack Gilpin as Joe Tumulty
Ed Steele as George B.M. Harvey
Ron Marshall as Boss Davis
Earl Hammond as Jim Nugent
Mitchell Jason as the Narrator

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Previous Episode

DAVE'S NECKLISS -- Ossie Davis in a story by Charles Chesnutt

Charles Chesnutt was a pioneering African-American author who wrote a number of novels about middle class and professional blacks but found that white readers wanted only to hear about black characters from the lower strata, who spoke in dialects reminiscent of slavery. White author Joel Chandler Harris had created in Uncle Remus a kindly black man who looked back fondly on his slavery days. In The Conjure Woman, his best known work, Chesnutt created the character of Uncle Julius, who was wily enough to be deferential to the well to do but told told tales in which there was no trace of nostalgia for the brutalities of slavery. Produced for public radio in the late 1996, the program features scholars from Yale, Rutgers and North Carolina State about Chesnutt's legacy, and features a dramatization of Chesnutt's conjure story "Dave's Neckliss." The cast features:
Ossie Davis as Uncle Julius
W.T. Martin as the plantation owner
Welker White as the owner's wife

Music composed and performed by Donald Stark
Produced, adapted and directed by Robert Clem

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Next Episode

THE UNTOUCHABLE DR. WILSON -- Part 1

A tale of the Progressive era, this two-part drama tells the story of how Woodrow Wilson becomes New Jersey's governor in 1910, embraces a progressive agenda and is soon on his way to the U.S. presidency. In Part One of the drama, George B.M. Harvey, editor of Harper 's Weekly and a conservative Democrat with strong ties to Wall Street, sees in Wilson a man who can offset the burgeoning reform movement. Harvey convinces New Jersey Democratic party boss Jim Smith to back Wilson as a way, finally, to take back control of the state. Wilson accepts only on their assurance he will be allowed to make his own decisions in matters of "morals and men." After a wooden start, Wilson begins to respond to the crowd and meets with Joe Tumulty, a member of the party's insurgent wing. Wilson wins the election with a strong finish and is sought out by George B.M. Harvey and Boss Jim Smith to offer their congratulations. Produced by Charles Potter and Robert Clem. Written and directed by Robert Clem and aired on the Pacifica network in 1992. Original music score by Donald Stark. With: