CBSRMT Episode Information Next Episode

Title

The Golden Amulet

Plot

A classic ghost tale from Japan about a samurai's son falling for a spirit.

Episode

0802

Air Dates

  • First Run - March 21, 1978
  • Repeat - August 20, 1978

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

63
36     27


8 Responses to Episode 0802

An ancient Japanese ghost story involving a son of a samuri who reaps bad karma by falling in love with a ghost.

J. Mostar

A story about Karma. The ghost girl reminds me of the singing twin sisters in Mothra

Scooter D and the Greens

I rate this episode ★★★☆☆ for AVERAGE. This is the first time I’ve heard of a Samurai story coming from CBSRMT. Roy Winsor, who wrote this episode, did a suitable adaptation of this ghostly tale, but not enough to expand the deepness on love & fate. It was more like cast & custom. SPECIAL NOTE: this episode is based on a Japanese story called: “A Passional Karma.” The title of this radio adaptation is OK, but I would’ve called it: “The Unrequited Love.” The music was terrific, especially playing the Oriental music before the narrations. But there weren’t enough sound effects to go with this. Just the sounds of birds chirping, wind howling, tea cups clinking, and a bedroom door opening. E.G. Marshall starts the show off by saying, “Your host for another story of the macabre.” In ACT-1, he focuses on Oriental Philosophy. In ACT-2, he’s focused on the Spirit World, but also points out that wisdom is evaluated and not love. In ACT-3, after finishing this story of unrequited love, E.G. Marshall explains that this tragic story is way different than Romeo & Juliet because the 2 lovers in this Japanese tale were fated by their Gods and never to fulfill their love. In his Epilogue, our Host explains the precepts of Buddha. Informative our Host us. And finally, our cast: Tony Roberts (as Hagiwara Shinzaburo), Evie Juster (as O-Tsuyu, O-Yone, O-Mine, O-Kuni, and Yusai), and Robert Dryden (as Dr. Shijo and Tomozo). I’d give Evie Juster major props for playing multiple roles. However, it seems odd that CBSRMT would hire actors/actresses to play characters from different heritages. It’s like the time Arnold Moss played Othello in #0473-THE GREEN EYED MONSTER and that role should’ve gone to Gordon Heath or Brock Peters. I think CBSRMT should’ve gotten Japanese actors like George Takei, Toshirô Mifune, Ken Takakura, or Ken Watanabe to be in this episode. Anyway, check this story out if you’re into stories on ghosts, romantic love, or the Samurai. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0]

Russell

Maybe the poor quality of the tape recording is to be blamed, but I rate this episode as sheer torture. Especially the actresses in part one. They all where obviously non-oriental with fake, cartoonish accents. That they all sounded identical with the high screeching voices didn't help. The fortune teller in the second act was the only woman's voice that differed, but it was so stereotypical gravelly voiced like a gypsy / witch that it was just laughable. I just couldn't get into the plot which was about karma and your soul goes through Nirvana or something, that I had to quit listening after act 2.

D.C.

I couldn't agree more, this episode was hard to listen to. I think the fake Japanese accidents of the ghost and almost all actors ruined the entire show. I got through it but couldn't appreciate the story, By far the worst of the CBSRMT episodes

BM

Intolerable. A first for me, but I couldn't even finish listening to it. Moving on to the next episode which, I am confident, will be as good as I expect from CBSRMT.

Denise

Wow. Like Chinese water torture listening to this one. First episode where there are more down than up votes and rightly so. Those shrill voices of the women with the attempted accents are brutal to listen to. I held out but couldn’t finish this one.

Anastasia

I have to agree with a lot of the comments here that the voices and accents are terrible. Also, I am afraid that some of their understanding of Buddhism was very limited. For one thing, karma is not "fate". According to Buddhism, karma means the actions we do, which result in either "good" or "bad" results. Gods exist in Buddhism, but they are just beings in other realms, and they have nothing to do with controlling karma, and no power over controlling it. Buddhists also do not pray to gods or worship them. It's really hard to listen to a story where there they get so many things wrong.

Amy


Leave a comment