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Lux Radio Theatre - Polly Of The Circus

April 7, 2026·58 min·5 clips

Polly insists on riding the untrained horse Bingo, risking her life for the circus crowd's cheers.

Hollywood, California, gets the first entrance. The broadcast opens with Lux Radio Theater in full ceremony: stars named, guests promised, music credited, Lionel Barrymore in Hollywood, and Cecil DeMille speaking from New York. Even the sponsor slips in early. A Lux Toilet Soap message for mothers pauses the show before the drama really settles in, tucking household comfort into the radio ritual. Then Polly takes over. The x-rays bring good news: her ankle is better than it ever was. Polly does not take it as good news. If she is healed, she can leave, and old Strong has already nudged her toward going back where she came from. John hears the worry right away. He asks whether someone has been talking to her, and suddenly a plain medical update turns into something more tender. Polly tries to think it through. She says using her head is hard work when she has only used her feet, a stage line with a little sting in it. Her heart is still with the circus. If Toby told her to go back that day, she would pack and take the next train. John has a letter. Joe is in Brockport and coming to see her, but first Polly has to hear about Toby. It is not a quarrel or a comic mix-up. Toby died of pneumonia the week before. Polly takes the news quietly. The broadcast then returns to manners and machinery, with Robert Montgomery and Alyssa Landy promised in The Grand Duchess and the Waiter while Barrymore and DeMille trade thanks across Hollywood and New York.

As heard by us

A polished circus melodrama that turns grief into a hard choice.

An injured circus performer has to decide whether to return to the life she knows, and the story tightens when word comes that Toby has died of pneumonia. Lux Radio Theatre handles that turn with steady confidence.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get a circus goodbye story that turns on one devastating letter.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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