Love Triangles in Old Time Radio

Boy meets Girl or Girl meets Boy; it doesn't really matter as long as they meet their one true love. The creators of romantic stories would have us believe that there is one true love out there for everyone, a notion that brings hope to lonely hearts around the world. However, love triangles spit in the eye of that romantic notion, although they do make for great romantic stories.

In romance, a triangle is the most unstable form. Love triangles come in a few different forms; typically, the girl is in love with two different guys and it is up to the men to decide which one gets the girl. Sometimes one of the guys resorts to a nefarious plot to get rid of the other bloke, but in a real tear-jerker both are good guys and one will allow his buddy to be happy. Another stinker version of this arrangement has the gal manipulating one guy to get rid of a lover she has grown tired of; even if they are successful, the replacement beau's days are numbered.

There are also stories of two girls after the same guy, but the rules are not quite the same. A common situation has one of the girls seeming more attractive while the other is truer and more virtuous. Woe be to the joker who chooses the wrong gal! A similar set up to the guy who heroically gives up the girl can occur in the 2 Girls, 1 Guy set up, but rather than the girl who gives up the guy for her pal being a heroine, she usually winds up being the truer and more virtuous choice the guy should have made in the first place.

If there is a common moral to Love Triangle Stories, it is that when you find your true love, hold on with both hands.

• The Cavalcade of America, September 9, 1943, "Double Play". Steve and Harry Yancy grew up together and both wound up on the baseball team at Annapolis and perfected the double play. When Steve goes to his destroyer at Pearl Harbor, he meets Sandra at a dance, but Harry, who is serving on a sub, cuts in just before the Japanese bombs fall. One night in the middle of the Pacific, the tin can Steve commands gets a call to assist a damaged sub, Harry's sub! There is an enemy heavy cruiser in the area but the damaged sub and the 'can set up a double play on the Japanese ship.
• The Whistler, February 4, 1948, "Undertow". John had nothing to do that summer but drive along the warm Atlantic shore and swim whenever it takes his fancy. At one of his stops, he is joined by a beautiful woman in a green bathing suit. After their swim, she invites him in for snacks and reveals that her husband never comes home from Boston until late, except on the weekends. John is smart enough not to deal with married women, but Sandra has other thoughts.
• The Chesterfield Program Starring Bob Hope, March 25, 1952. Bob Hope brought the whole gang down to the Naval Training Center in San Diego, including his guest, Gracie Allen. George and Gracie have been on TV for a couple of seasons at this point, and in this episode, Gracie is convinced that Bob wants to take her away from George (who does not appear) so she tries turning the tables on him.
• The Lux Radio Theatre, October 5, 1954, "The Turning Point". Fred MacMurray stars as a jaded newspaper reporter who has taken a liking to the ambitious young District Attorney who is determined to clean up the corruption of their town. The DA refuses to listen to the wiser reporter's advice, and the situation is not helped by Amanda Waycross, who they are both in love with.

See also:  Puppy Love