Amnesia and Memory Loss Collection
For as long as storytellers have taken to the airwaves, the loss of memory has been one of radio's most compelling plot devices. Whether brought on by a bump on the head, a traumatic event, or sheer mystery, amnesia allowed writers to explore identity, suspense, and even comedy in surprising ways. This extensive compilation brings together 83 episodes spanning detective shows, dramas, mystery-horror programs, and lighthearted comedies — over 37 hours of old time radio that explores what happens when the past is erased. From hardboiled investigators to bewildered husbands, these characters find themselves asking the most fundamental question: who am I?
Collection Highlights
- Classic detective dilemmas with Pat Novak, Boston Blackie, Sam Spade, and Philip Marlowe — each encountering amnesiacs whose missing memories conceal danger and deception. In one episode, a beautiful woman claiming amnesia dies after drinking coffee; in another, an heiress may be the key to solving a murder.
- Memorable comedic takes on forgetfulness, including Dagwood Bumstead losing his memory after a football mishap, Fibber McGee tackling the Gildersleeve Memory Course (and later the Apex system with predictably chaotic results), and Dennis Day causing confusion when his picture is mistaken for a missing heir.
- Powerful dramatic treatments from series like Suspense, Escape, and Lux Radio Theater, including multiple adaptations of "Random Harvest" as well as chilling episodes where amnesia is triggered by war trauma, such as Dr. Kildare's case of a young man who cannot remember his own identity after seeing his friend's plane shot down.
- Unforgettable moments from the worlds of science fiction (a Space Patrol agent, a man carrying atomic secrets who forgets everything after a train accident, X Minus One's "Junkyard") and horror (Inner Sanctum, The Whistler, Quiet Please's haunting "Little Visitor") where lost memories lead to deadly consequences.
Track Listing
Show all 83 tracks (37 hours, 18 min)
- Amos Andy 440331 026 Long Lost Harold
- Bergen Mccarthy 450909 W Keenan Wynn
- Big Town 481130 456 I Remember Murder
- Blondie 440917 Dagwood Gets Amnesia
- Boston Blackie 451108 Amnesia Victim
- Boston Blackie 470318 114 Sam Fishers Past
- Bulldog Drummond Yymmdd Mr Smith, Amnesiac
- Burns And Allen 430629 39 Amnesia
- Chase, 521123 26 Blackout
- Coty 481004 0557 Extra Uniform
- Coty 490325 0630 Letter To Killer
- Dennis Day 470122 Dennis has Amnesia
- Dick Tracy 460119 0014 Dark Corridor
- Dr Kildare 500426 13 Phillip Vancorts Amnesia
- Dr Kildare 510803 80 Alice Bradley Amnesia Victim
- Escape 490312 059 He Who Rides Tiger
- Fibber Mcgee And Molly 390314 Gildersleeve Memory Course
- Fibber Mcgee And Molly 571221 1441 Taking Memory Course
- Flash Gordon 350713 E11 Dr Zarkoff Shoots Cooks
- Flash Gordon 350720 E12 Flash Regains Memory
- Flash Gordon 350817 016 Avenging Shadow
- Ft 530211 305 Indispensable Man
- Ft 550504 419 Who Am I
- Grand Marquee 460730 04 Hold That Memory 3244
- Green Hornet 410614 Man Wanted For What
- Hallmark Playhouse 490217 E035 Random Harvest
- Harry Lime 520411 037 Manofmystery
- Haunting Hour 450728 E14 Unidentified Body
- Hermits Cave 08 Search For Life
- Inner Sanctum 490110 404 Murder Comes To Life
- Its Higgins, Sir 510904 10 Higgins Gets Amnesia
- Jeff Regan 480925 Lady With No Name
- Jerry Of Circus 1930s Ep.13
- Lorenzo Jones 550113 Lorenzo Still Has Amnesia
- Lorenzo Jones 550624 Roger Craxtons Murder
- Lr 440616 1000 Candlelight
- Lr 470825 1502 When Memory Failed
- Lux Radio Theater 410630 314 I Love You Again
- Lux Radio Theater 440131 425 Random Harvest
- Matinee Theater 450107 12 Random Harvest
- Mr. And Mrs. North 500905 361 Million Dollar Murde
- My Favorite Husband 490225 033 Absentmindedness
- Lux Radio Theater 470303 561 Somewhere In Night
- Majestics Master Of Mystery 340120 04 Phantom Spoilers
- March Of Time 371125 00x Labor Leader Taken For Ride
- Night Beat 501006 035 Kenny Day Amnesia Case
- Night Beat 510706 049 Bill Perrin Amnesia Case
- Night Surgeon 000000 Woman With Amnesia
- Nightbeat 510706 Bill Pernns Amnesia
- Obsession 000000 15 Amnesia Last Ten Minutes Only
- Pat Novak 490227 003 Dont Tell Hilda Akamarcia Halpern
- Philip Marlowe 491008 Open Window
- Philip Morris Playhouse 500506 Murder Needs An Artist
- Pwh 510311 127 Forget Me Not
- Quiet Please 480105 031 Little Visitor
- Richard Diamond 491126 E32 Case Of Amnesia
- Romance 460305 146 Random Harvest
- Romance 470430 184 Isles Of Spice And Lilies
- Rosemary 460626
- Saint 491113 Fake Amnesia Killer
- Saint 510225 Amnesia Victim
- Sam Spade 480711 B094 Wheel Of Life Caper
- Sam Spade 510216 C014 Soap Opera Caper
- Screen Directors Playhouse 491024 040 Love Letters
- Screen Guild Theater 440117 179 I Love You Again
- Shadow Of Fu Manchu 390815 86
- Space Patrol 530321 0025 Caverns Of Venus
- Suspense 431202 068 Black Curtain
- Suspense 450125 127 Drurys Bones Afrts
- Suspense 500608 388 Case Of Henri Vibard
- Suspense 520414 469 Mate Bram
- Suspense 541014 567 Lost
- Suspense 600828 868 Girl In Powder Blue Jag
- Terry Pirates 470116 Mind Slave
- Texas Rangers 520907 94 Alibi
- The Roy Rogers Show 540715 025 Song My Little Buckaroo
- Tifh 570213 1007 256 Ron Gets Amnesia
- Tiyfbi 460920 077 Diamond Studded Doublecross
- Virginia Lane 390302 Uncle Danny Has Disappeared V
- Whistler 420920 019 Fog
- Whistler 421004 021 Urge To Kill
- X Minus One 560222 039 Junkyard
- Ytjd 570428 534 Melancholy Memory Matter
