Radio Broadcast of Murder By Proxy – January 18, 1933

“… the last words in which I shall ever record …”

– The Adventure of The Final Problem (FINA)

We are pleased to share this recording of the January 18, 1933 NBC radio broadcast of Murder by Proxy. Edith Meiser adapted the script from Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem. This is the earliest known surviving recording of any Sherlock Holmes radio show and the only one featuring Richard Gordon as Holmes.

Watson is played by Leigh Lovell and the announcer is Joseph Bell.  The show is sponsored by G. Washington Coffee. At the end of the recording, Dr, Watson and the announcer have a conversation about the G. Washington Coffee published volume of seven stories from the Canon and talk about possible future volumes.

Listeners could claim a copy of the first volume by writing their name and address on the back of one of the G. Washington labels from a four ounce can and mailing it to the offices in Morristown, New Jersey. The book had a gold profile of Holmes on the cover and a portrait of Dr. Watson on the frontispiece.

Has anyone seen this version published by G. Washington? Were there any addition volumes? G. Washington would continue to sponsor the broadcasts through 1935.