Podcast Directory

Podcast title

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Website URL

http://boxcars711.podOmatic.co...

Description

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Podcast Before TV was. Then, Now, Forever ! Broadcasts from The 'Heart' Of Historic Germantown and Where The Oldies Are Still Young.

Updated

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:47:28 GMT

Episodes

1. The Blue Beetle - Thoroughbreds Always Come Through (06-19-40) 2 Parts - Complete
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Thoroughbreds Always Come Through (Aired June 19, 1940) 2 Parts - Complete
The exploits of Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman who, by wearing bullet-proof blue chain mail, transformed himself into the mysterious Blue Beetle, a daring crusader for justice. The Blue Beetle was created by Charles Nicholas. The character made his first appearance in August of 1939 in the comic book Mystery Men #1, published by Fox Features Syndicate. The Blue Beetle radio serial aired from 05-15-40 to 09-13-40 as a CBS 30 minutes, syndicated series. Actor Frank Lovejoy provided the voice of the Blue Beetle for the first thirteen episodes. Later episodes were uncredited. After his father was killed by a gangster's bullet, young Dan Garrett joined the New York Police Department, but soon tired of the slow pace and red tape of police work. With the help of his friend and mentor, pharmacist and drug-store proprietor Dr. Franz, Dan acquired a costume of bullet-proof chain-mail-like cellulose material, and began a second life, fighting crime as The Blue Beetle. His calling card was a small beetle-shaped marker that he left in conspicuous places to alert criminals to his presence, using their fear of his crime fighting reputation as a weapon against them. For this purpose he also used a "Beetle Signal" flashlight. The Blue Beetle's reputation was not his only weapon -- he carried a revolver in a blue holster on his belt, and was sometimes shown wearing a multi-pouched belt after the style set by Batman. Also in the Batman vein, the Blue Beetle had a "BeetleMobile" car and a "BeetleBird" airplane. In at least one radio adventure, he carries something called a "magic ray machine". The ray machine was a sort of super-scientific cutting device.

TODAY'S SHOW: " Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" (06-19-40) 2 Parts Complete.

June 19, 1940. Program #21. Fox Features syndication. "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" Part one. Commercials added locally. A long-shot named "White Star" wins an important race, then the jockey is arrested! . 14:42.

June 19, 1940. Program #22. Fox Features syndication. "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" Part two. Commercials added locally. The Blue Beetle visits the track, with a little paint remover. The Beetle gathers evidence with his "portable television set" (actually a camera and transmitter combined!). . 12:57.

2. Gangbusters - Case Of Bugs Moran (10-25-47) Part 3 of 3
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Case Of Bugs Moran (Aired October 25, 1947) Part 3 of 3
The initial series was on NBC Radio from July 20 - October 12, 1935. It then aired on CBS from January 15, 1936 to June 15, 1940, sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive and Cue magazine. From October 11, 1940 to December 25, 1948, it was heard on the Blue Network, with various sponsors that included Sloan's Liniment, Waterman pens and Tide. Returning to CBS on January 8, 1949, it ran until June 25, 1955, sponsored by Grape-Nuts and Wrigley's chewing gum. The final series was on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 5, 1955 to November 27, 1957. It was once narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., former head of the New Jersey State Police. The radio series was adapted for DC Comics, Big Little Books and a 1942 movie serial. The 1952 Gang Busters TV series was reedited into two feature films, Gang Busters (1954) and Guns Don't Argue (1957).

3. The Haunting Hour -The Cat Man (1945)
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The Cat Man (1945)
The shows are classic chills from the old school, with creepy organ, overwrought women and over the top men. Perhaps not the highest of melodrama, but obsessively workmanlike. After all, they might have known they were a skeleton staff toiling relentlessly without a ghost of a chance of fame. Thanks to transcription, these unknowns are still with us. John Dunning, succinctly states in "On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio," "There were no credits, so casts and production crews are unknown."

THIS EPISODE: 1945. Program #35. NBC syndication. "The Cat Man". Commercials added locally. A circus story about a lion tamer and "Satan," a cat who can go mad with rage on cue. The date is approximate. 27:32.

4. Academy Award Theater - Arise My Love (06-01-46)
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Arise My Love (Aired June 1, 1946)
The list of films and actors on Academy Award Theater is very impressive. Bette Davis begins the series in Jezebel, with Ginger Rogers following in Kitty Foyle, and then Paul Muni in The Life of Louis Pasteur. The Informer had to have Victor Mclaglen, and the Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet (this movie was his first major motion picutre role) plus Mary Astor for the hat trick. Suspicion starred Cary Grant with Ann Todd doing the Joan Fontaine role, Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon, and Joan Fontaine and John Lund were in Portrait of Jenny. How Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were done is something to hear! Some films are less well known, such as Guest in the House, with Kirk Douglas and Anita Louise, It Happened Tomorrow, with Eddie Bracken and Ann Blythe playing Dick Powell and Linda Darnell's roles, and Cheers for Miss Bishop with Olivia de Havilland. Each adaptation is finely produced and directed by Dee Engelbach, with music composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Frank Wilson wrote the movie adaptations. John Dunning in his book,"On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio,"tells us why such a fine production lasted less than a year: "The House of Squibb, a drug firm, footed a stiff bill: up to $5,000 for the stars and $1,600 a week to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for use of the title. The production had all the class of a Lux or Screen Guild show…But the tariff took its toll, and after 39 weeks the series was scrapped."

THIS EPISODE: June 1, 1946. CBS network. "Arise My Love". Sponsored by: Squibb. A love story between a pilot and a girl reporter in wartime Europe. Ray Milland. 1/2 hour.

5. The Diary Of Fate - Albert Riker Entry (04-27-48)
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Albert Riker Entry (Aired April 27, 1948)
The twist with Diary of Fate was the total absence of pretense. The program jumps right to the 'source' of Man's ultimate destiny--Fate itself--in the form of the Guardian of the Diary of Fate. It is within the Diary of Fate, that every soul's fate is painstakingly chronicled by book and page number--or so we're very persuasively given to understand. Fate itself--in this instance, at least--is the great character actor Herbert Lytton, providing the forboding vocal gravitas we might expect from such an all-powerful cosmic force. Produced from Hollywood, the entire production was voiced by primarily west coast actors. Famous Radio and Television promoter Larry Finley produced and syndicated the program to at least some 94 affiliate stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Jamaica. As indicated in the sidebar to the left, most local or regional broadcasts were either sustained offerings by an independent affiliate, or were sponsored by spot advertisers ranging over a wide variety of offerings or services. The production didn't stint on talent, as hinted above. No less than Ivan Ditmars provided the music direction and in addition to Herb Lytton as 'Fate', the varying casts included Lurene Tuttle, Larry Dobkin, Hal Sawyer, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Jerry Hausner, Howard McNear, Peter Leeds, Ken Peters, Daws Butler and William Johnstone. All in all a superb well of talent from which to draw each week. While a bit difficult to document, the production remains quite collectable and the perspective of the presentation is also unique for the era--or since for that matter. Diary of Fate is one of Radio's little, oft-overlooked gems that demand pulling out, polishing up for better enjoyment, then dutifully returning them to their preserve for another airing one day in the future.

THIS EPISODE: April 27, 1948. Program #20. Finley syndication. "Albert Riker". Commercials added locally. Book 84, page 946. A construction foreman has been promised easy riches through gambling. The date is subject to correction. Larry Finley (producer), Herb Lytton, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Howard McNear, Ray Ehrlenborn (probable sound effects), Bert Horsewell (?), Ivan Ditmars (organ), Hal Sawyer. 28:08.

6. Mr. & Mrs. North - Murder Mismanaged (03-18-52)
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Murder Mismanaged (Aired March 18, 1952)
Mr. and Mrs. North was a radio mystery series that aired on CBS from 1942 to 1954. Alice Frost and Joseph Curtin had the title roles when the series began in 1942. Publisher Jerry North and his wife Pam lived in Greenwich Village at 24 St. Anne's Flat. They were not professional detectives but simply an ordinary couple who stumbled across a murder or two every week for 12 years. The radio program eventually reached nearly 20 million listeners. The characters originated in 1930s vignettes written by Richard Lockridge for the New York Sun, and he brought them back for short stories in The New Yorker. These stories were collected in Mr. and Mrs. North (1936). Lockridge increased the readership after he teamed with his wife Frances on a novel, The Norths Meet Murder (1940), launching a series of 40 novels, including Death takes a Bow, Death on the Aisle and The Dishonest Murderer. Their long-run series continued for over two decades and came to an end in 1963 with the death of Frances Lockridge. Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin had the title roles in the Broadway production Mr. and Mrs. North, which ran 163 performances at the Belasco Theatre from January 12, 1941, to May 31, 1941. Alfred De Liagre, Jr. produced and directed the play written by Owen Davis. In this version, the North's apartment was located on Greenwich Place, realized in a scenic design by Jo Mielziner. The Owen Davis play became a 1942 MGM movie starring Gracie Allen and William Post, Jr. with Millard Mitchell repeating his role of Detective Mullins from the Broadway production. Others in the cast were Paul Kelly, Rose Hobart and Keye Luke. In 1946, producer-director Fred Coe brought the Owen Davis play to television (on New York City's WNBT) with John McQuade and Maxine Stewart in the leads and Don Haggerty, Joan Marlowe and Millard Mitchell repeating their Broadway roles. Barbara Britton and Richard Denning starred in the TV adaptation seen on CBS from 1952 to 1953 and on NBC in 1954. Guest appearances on this series included Raymond Burr, Hans Conried, Mara Corday, Carolyn Jones, Katy Jurado, Jimmy Lydon, Julia Meade, William Schallert and Gloria Talbott.

7. Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8209 - The Movie Company (09-11-50)
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The Movie Company (Aired September 11, 1950)
Candy Matson was the private eye star of Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8208, an NBC West Coast show which first aired in March 1949 and was created by Monty Masters. He cast his wife, Natalie Parks, in the title role of this sassy, sexy PI. Her understated love interest, Lt. Ray Mallard, was played by Henry Leff while her assistant and best pal, aptly named Rembrandt Watson, was the voice of Jack Thomas. Every show opened with a ringing telephone and our lady PI answering it with "Candy Matson, YU 2-8209" and then the organ swung into the theme song, "Candy". Each job took Candy from her apartment on Telegraph Hill into some actual location in San Francisco. The writers, overseen by Monty, worked plenty of real Bay Area locations into every plot. Candy was bright, tough, and fearless. She used her pistol infrequently, but was unintimidated by bad guys, regardless of circumstances. Threats, assaults, and even bullets would usually produce a caustic, but clever, response for this blonde sleuth. She and Mallard were frequently working the same case, but she usually solved it first. OTR experts generally agree that this show was the finest of all the female PIs.

THIS EPISODE: September 11, 1950. NBC network, San Francisco origination. "The Movie Company". Sustaining. Candy finds a real body hanging among the props on a movie set. Natalie Masters, Monte Masters (producer, director). 25 minutes.

8. The New Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Death In The North Sea (06-16-47)
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Death In The North Sea (Aired June 16, 1947)
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning (somewhat mistakenly so called — see inductive reasoning) and astute observation to solve difficult cases. He is arguably the most famous fictional detective ever created, and is one of the best known and most universally recognisable literary characters in any genre. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes' friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person. The first two stories, short novels, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared almost right up to Conan Doyle's death in 1930. The stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1903, with a final case in 1914.

THIS EPISODE: The New Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. June 16, 1947. ABC network. "Death In The North Sea". Sponsored by: Kreml Hair Tonic, Kreml Shampoo. An innocent man is about to be convicted of murder aboard an ocean liner. Sherlock Holmes uses a scratch on a porthole and a Frenchwoman to defend the man. John Powers and his model Ellen Allardice appear on a Kreml shampoo commercial. The story is based on, "The Problem Of Thor Bridge" by Arthur Conan Doyle. Tom Conway, Nigel Bruce, Joseph Bell (announcer), Tom McKnight (producer), Alex Steinert (composer, conductor), Anthony Boucher (writer), Denis Green (writer), Arthur Conan Doyle (author), Gale Gordon, John Powers, Ellen Allardice. 29:27.

9. I Was A Communist For The FBI - The Red Record (08-20-52)
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The Red Record (Aired August 20, 1952)
Throughout most of the 1940's, Matt Cvetic worked as a volunteer undercover agent for the FBI, infiltrating the Communist Party in Pittsburgh. In 1949, his testimony helped to convict several top Party members of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government. Cvetic sold his account to "The Saturday Evening Post" and it was serialized under the title "I Posed as a Communist for the FBI". It later became a best-selling book. In 1951, Warner Brothers released a film based on these accounts entitled "I Was A Communist For The FBI", starring with Frank Lovejoy as Cvetic. In 1952, in the midst of the Red scare of the 1950's, the Frederick W. Ziv Company produced the syndicated radio series with the same title as the movie. It was produced without assistance from the FBI, which refused to cooperate. I Was a Communist for the FBI consisted of 78 episodes syndicated by the Frederick W. Ziv Company to more than 600 stations, including KNX in Los Angeles, California, with original episodes running from April 23, 1952 to October 14, 1953. Each episode ended with Dana Andrew's well-remembered words, ""I was a Communist for the FBI. I walk alone". The show had a budget of $12,000 a week, a very high cost to produce a radio show at the time.

THIS EPISODE: August 20, 1952. Program #18. ZIV Syndication. "The Red Record". Commercials added locally. Cvetic travels to Chicago looking for a "black book," possibly hidden inside a radio! The date is subject to correction. Dana Andrews, Truman Bradley (announcer), Barton Yarborough, Paul Richards, Harry Lang, Herb Vigran, David Rose (music). 27:44.

10. Gangbusters - Case Of Bugs Moran (10-18-47) Part 2 of 3
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Case Of Bugs Moran (Aired October 18, 1947) Part 2 of 3
The radio series was adapted for DC Comics and Big Little Books. Universal Pictures made a very popular Gang Busters (serial) movie serial in 1942, starring Kent Taylor and Ralph Morgan. The 1952 Gang Busters TV series was reedited into two feature films, Gang Busters (1955, with Myron Healey as Public Enemy No. 4) and Guns Don't Argue (1957, with Healey as John Dillinger). The Gangbusters TV version ended its telecast with a photo of one of the nation's most wanted lawbreakers, resulting in the apprehension of many major criminals. During the fall of 1952 Gangbusters averaged an unheard of 42 rating, garnering virtually all the audience available in its time slot. Nevertheless, this police anthology series left the air in December 1952, making it probably the highest rated program ever to be cancelled in the history of television.

THIS EPISODE: October 18, 1947. Program #499. ABC network origination, syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York rebroadcast. "The Case Of Bugs Moran". Participating sponsors. The second part of the story of "Bugs." A comeback. WRVR rebroadcast date: June 20, 1974.

11. The Damon Runyon Theater - So You Won't Talk (08-21-49)
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So You Won't Talk (Aired August 21, 1949)
The Damon Runyon Theater was a 52 show series that was syndicated across the USA beginning in early 1949. Damon Runyon was a gifted sports writer in New York City as well as being a great journalist and great short story writer. His stories were humorous ones, written in the "dem" and "dose" vernacular of the city's loveable and not so loveable characters of Broadway, the prize ring and the underworld. His most famous collection of short stories, Guys and Dolls, was on Broadway and later made into a movie. Many of his stories were filmed including Sorrowful Jones, A Pocketful of Miracles, Lady for a Day, Blue Plate Special, The Lemon Drop Kid (twice) and Little Miss Marker (four times). In addition to this The Damon Runyon Theater was syndicated for television in the mid 1950s.

THIS EPISODE: August 21, 1949. Program #34. Mayfair syndication. "So You Won't Talk". Commercials added locally. Grafton Wilton has been murdered, but there was an eyewitness...an unusual eye witness! Damon Runyon (author), John Brown, Richard Sanville (director), Russell Hughes (adaptor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 27:24.

12. The Adventures Of Ellery Queen - Man In The Street (12-04-47)
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Man In The Street (Aired December 4, 1947)
On radio, The Adventures of Ellery Queen was heard on all three networks from 1939 to 1948. During the 1970s, syndicated radio fillers, Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries, began with an announcer saying, "This is Ellery Queen..." and contained a short one-minute case. The radio station encouraged callers to solve the mystery and win a sponsor's prize. Once a winner was found, the solution was broadcast as confirmation. Tuska cited Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as the best of the Bellamy-Lindsay pairings. "The influence of The Thin Man series was apparent in reverse", Tuska noted about Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery. "Ellery and Nikki are unmarried but obviously in love with each other. Probably the biggest mystery... is how Ellery ever gets a book written. Not only is Nikki attractive and perfectly willing to show off her figure", Tuska wrote, "but she also likes to write her own stories on Queen's time, and gets carried away doing her own investigations." In Ellery Queen, Master Detective, "the amorous relationship between Ellery and Nikki Porter was given a dignity, and therefore integrity", Tuska wrote, "that was lacking in the two previous entries in the series", made at Republic Pictures before Bellamy and Lindsay were signed by Columbia.

13. Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Sorcerers Apprentice (TV) 1962
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The Sorcerers Apprentice (TV) Aired July, 1962 *Exact Date Unknown
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an anthology television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. Originally 30 minutes per episode, the series was expanded to 60 minutes in 1962 and retitled The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Hitchcock himself only directed 17 of the 270 filmed episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and only one of the hour-long episodes, "I Saw the Whole Thing" with John Forsythe. Audiences, however, preferred the shorter version, and in 1963 the show and title returned to their thirty-minute format for the final two seasons. The last new episode aired on June 26, 1965, but the series continued to be popular in syndication for decades. The first season was released on DVD in 2005, the second season in 2006, the third in October 2007, and the fourth in November, 2009.

THIS EPISODE: July, 1962. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" - The Great Sadini finds a young man passed out from hunger on the carnival grounds and takes him inside to his trailer. The boy, Hugo, proves to be simple. His first thought on waking is that he is dead and that Sadini and his wife are the devil and an angel. He's nearly right -- but he has the roles reversed. Sadini's compassion prompts him to take the kid under his wing and teach him about magic.

14. Arch Oboler's Plays - My Chicago (07-26-45)
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My Chicago (Aired July 26, 1945)
Arch Oboler's Plays was a radio drama series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939 to March 23, 1940 and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945 to October 11, 1945. Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Gale Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco.

THIS EPISODE: July 26, 1945. Mutual network. "My Chicago". Sustaining. A well-written, amusing look over a young Chicago boy's shoulder, as he writes a description of his city to a Chinese pen-pal. Tommy Cook, Cathy Lewis, Bea Benaderet, Arch Oboler, Joseph Gilbert, Truda Marson, Eddie McCambridge, Evelyn Scott. 1/2 hour.

15. Gangbusters - Case Of Bugs Moran (10-11-47) Part 1 of 3
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Case Of Bugs Moran (Aired October 11, 1947) Part 1 of 3
Gangbusters was an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered as G-Men, sponsored by Chevrolet, on July 20, 1935. After the title was changed to Gang Busters January 15, 1936, the show had a 21-year run through November 20, 1957. Beginning with a barrage of loud sound effects — guns firing and tires squealing — this intrusive introduction led to the popular catch phrase "came on like Gang Busters."The series dramatized FBI cases, which producer-director Phillips H. Lord arranged in close association with Bureau director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover insisted that only closed cases would be used. The initial series was on NBC Radio from July 20 - October 12, 1935. It then aired on CBS from January 15, 1936 to June 15, 1940, sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive and Cue magazine. From October 11, 1940 to December 25, 1948, it was heard on the Blue Network, with various sponsors that included Sloan's Liniment, Waterman pens and Tide. Returning to CBS on January 8, 1949, it ran until June 25, 1955, sponsored by Grape-Nuts and Wrigley's chewing gum. The final series was on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 5, 1955 to November 27, 1957. It was once narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., former head of the New Jersey State Police. The radio series was adapted for DC Comics, Big Little Books and a 1942 movie serial. The 1952 Gang Busters TV series was reedited into two feature films, Gang Busters (1954) and Guns Don't Argue (1957).

THIS EPISODE: October 11, 1947. Program #498. ABC network origination, syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York rebroadcast. "The Case Of The Devil and The Syndicate"/ "Bugs Moran". Participating sponsors. Al Capone vs. Bugs Moran. The rise of the Chicago gang wars. WRVR rebroadcast date: June 13, 1974.

16. Cloak & Dagger - The Eyes Of Buddha (07-02-50)
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The Eyes Of Buddha (Aired July 2, 1950)
"Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission for the United States, knowing in advance you may never return alive?" Cloak and Dagger first aired over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the Summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its Summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. This is the story of the WWII special governmental agency, the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services. Its mission was to develop and maintain spy networks throughout Europe and into Asia, while giving aid to underground partisan groups and developing espionage activities for Allied forces overseas.The show is based on the book of the same name by Lt. Col. Corey Ford and Major Alastair MacBain (who were associated with the OSS from its early days.) The dramas are not Hollywood-style, in that they sometimes end with plans foiled or leading characters dead.

THIS EPISODE: July 2, 1950. NBC network. "The Eyes Of Buddha". Sustaining. 4:00 P. M. is preceded by a news bulletin: "Seoul Korea has been raided by American and Australian war planes. One of two North Korean planes shot down had a Russian red star." An O. S. S. operative flies to Siam to rescue an American held by the Japanese. After witnessing a Japanese decapitation, a daring escape is made from a Japanese prison camp. Part of the system cue has been deleted. Jerry Jarrett, Jon Gart (music director), Sherman Marks (director, supervisor), Everett Sloane, Ralph Bell, Berry Kroeger, Raymond Edward Johnson, Eileen Heckart, Martin Balsam, Winifred Wolfe (writer), Jack Gordon (writer), Corey Ford (originator), Alistair MacBain (originator), Louis G. Cowan (producer), Alfred Hollander (producer), Grant Richards, Karl Weber. 29:21.

17. The Adventures Of Philip Marlowe - The Black Halo (01-15-49)
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The Black Halo (Aired January 15, 1949)
The first portrayal of Phillip Marlowe on the radio was by Dick Powell, when he played Raymond Chandler's detective on the Lux Radio Theater on June 11, 1945. This was a radio adaptation of the 1944 movie, from RKO, in which Mr. Powell played the lead. Two years later, Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in a summer replacement series for the Bob Hope Show on NBC. This series ran for 13 shows. On September 26, 1948, Gerald Mohr became the third radio Marlowe, this time on CBS. It remained a CBS show through its last show in 1951.

THIS EPISODE: January 15, 1949. CBS network. "The Black Halo". Sustaining. Marlowe is hired to find the missing Julia Perry. Murder and a suicide complicate the case and add a surprise ending. Gerald Mohr, Raymond Chandler (creator), Richard Aurandt (composer, conductor), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Robert Mitchell (writer), Mel Dinelli (writer), Gene Levitt (writer), Joan Banks, Jack Kruschen, Jeff Corey, Paul Frees, Peter Leeds, Lois Corbett, Roy Rowan (announcer). 29:48.

18. The Dick Van Dyke Show - Hustling The Hustler (10-24-62)
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Hustling The Hustler (Aired October 24, 1962)
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production. The series was primarily sponsored by Procter & Gamble and, as an "alternate sponsor" beginning with the second season, Lorillard Tobacco Company (Kent cigarettes). The cast sometimes appeared in "integrated commercials" for their sponsors at the end of the show. The show was also produced by Reiner, who wrote many episodes and played the role of Alan Brady. Many of the show's plots were inspired by Reiner's experiences as a writer for Your Show of Shows, but though he based the character of Rob Petrie on himself, Rob's egocentric boss Alan Brady is less Sid Caesar (host of Your Show of Shows) than a combination of the more abrasive Milton Berle and Jackie Gleason, according to Reiner himself.[1] The Dick Van Dyke Show won 15 Emmy Awards.

THIS EPISODE: October 24, 1962. "Hustling the Hustler" - A crippled jeep and a sprained ankle make Rob two hours late for his own wedding. Sandy Kenyon guest-stars. Carl Reiner John Rich Wednesday.

19. The Adventures Of Frank Merriwell - Boomarang Pitch (03-19-49)
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Boomarang Pitch (Aired March 19, 1949)
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell first ran on NBC radio from March 26 to June 22, 1934 as a 15-minute serial airing three times a week at 5:30pm. Sponsored by Dr. West's Toothpaste, this program starred Donald Briggs in the title role. Harlow Wilcox was the announcer. After a 12-year gap, the series returned October 5, 1946 as a 30-minute NBC Saturday morning show, continuing until June 4, 1949. Lawson Zerbe starred as Merriwell, Jean Gillespie and Elaine Rostas as Inza Burrage, Harold Studer as Bart Hodge and Patricia Hosley as Elsie Belwood. The announcer was Harlow Wilcox, and the Paul Taubman Orchestra supplied the background music. There are at least three generations of Merriwells: Frank, his half-brother Dick, and Frank's son, Frank Jr. There is a marked difference between Frank and Dick. Frank usually handled challenges on his own. Dick has mysterious friends and skills that help him, especially an old Indian friend without whom the stories would not have been quite as interesting.

THIS EPISODE: March 19, 1949. NBC network. "The Boomerang Pitch". Sustaining. When Frank and Bart miss a train, an British cricket player saves the day for the Yale baseball team. Lawson Zerbe, Hal Studer, Elaine Rost, Harlow Wilcox (announcer), Burt L. Standish (creator). 1/2 hour.

20. Case Dismissed - Liability For Minors (03-27-54)
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Liability For Minors (Aired March 27, 1954)
Thus with the pounding of the gavel, the fate of men and women have been decided by the judge. This is the story of our legal rights, the battle to preserve and protect them, and how easily they can be lost. The program shows us just how fragile liberty and justice can be. These stories of everyday events are still interesting, even after 50 years. Stories of criminal liability, legal wills, buying on installment, and leasing an apartment. Each story is well written, and the acting, though dated and a bit hokey by today’s standards, still manages to achieve the desired effect. Not much information is available for this series, it was apparently broadcast on a limited basis, and originated on WMAQ Chicago, an NBC station. It was comprised of thirteen episodes, twelve of which are currently available, and was heard from January 30, 1954 through April 24, 1954.

THIS EPISODE: March 27, 1954. NBC network, WMAQ, Chicago origination. Sustaining. The program is produced in co-operation with the Chicago Bar Association. A look at "Liability For Minors". John C. Fitzgerald (host, Dean of the Law School, Loyola University), Robert Carmen (writer), Meg Hahn, Charles Flynn, Carlton KaDell, Jack Lester, Harry Elders, Bruce Lindgren, Betty Ross (producer), Herbert Littow (director), Tom Evans (sound effects), Harold Witteberry (engineer), Lee Bennett (announcer). 28:32.

21. Best Plays - Angel Street (06-22-52)
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Angel Street (Aired June 22, 1952)
Best Plays presents theatrical paramounts of excellence. It's hosted by the drama critic of New York’s Daily News, John Chapman. Dramatic and comedic performances outshine other theater radio shows, greatly performed by such greats as Boris Karloff and Alfred Drake. In This Episode, On Borrowed Time a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how we cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway play, which was a smash hit. The play, based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin, has been revived twice on Broadway since its original run. Set in a more innocent time in small-town America, the film stars Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi and Cedric Hardwicke. Lionel Barrymore plays Julian Northrup, a wheelchair-bound man (Barrymore had broken his hip twice previously and was now using a wheelchair, though he continued to act), who with his wife Nellie, played by Beulah Bondi, are raising their orphaned grandson, Pud. Another central character is Gramps's beloved old apple tree - by making a wish, Gramps has made the tree able to hold anyone who climbs.

THIS EPISODE: June 22, 1952. NBC network. "Angel Street". Sustaining. John Chapman (host), Howard Reig (announcer), Patrick Hamilton (author), Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Melville Cooper, Elizabeth Eustis, Earl Hamner (adaptor), Margery Maude, Edward King (director), William Welch (supervisor). 59:49.

22. The Beverly Hillbillies - The Clampetts Are Overdraw (11-13-63)
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The Clampetts Are Overdraw (Aired November 13, 1963)
The Beverly Hillbillies was chock full of lowbrow but hilarious situations. As sitcom humor would have it, Jed and his brood move next door to the greedy banker, Milburn Drysdale, who in an effort to make his financial institution the home of the Clampett millions, takes the fresh-off-the-farm family under his wing. Most of the early shows revolve around the impossible adjustments the poor mountain folk must make to city life, and Jed Clampett's backwoods brand of wisdom always wins out in the end. Despite their brand-new mansion with its cement pond and indoor plumbing, the Hillbillies stay true to their rustic roots. Many episodes center around Drysdale's attempts to keep the Clampetts in good spirits in their big-city setting (thus keeping their money in his bank). Enrolling Jethro in elementary school, buying Jed a movie studio, letting Granny open a medical practice and finding Elly May a beau are just a few of the silly but entertaining storylines. The Beverly Hillbillies premiered in September, 1962 and ran in prime time until September, 1971, when CBS cancelled all of its rural programming. Despite the popularity of The Beverly Hillbillies and its sister shows such as Green Acres and Mayberry R.F.D., the Madison Avenue bigwigs believed that the viewers of these programs weren't buying the sponsors' products. In spite of the network's bucolic ban, The Beverly Hillbillies went on to become one of the most popular syndicated programs in history and has aired in reruns continuously since its cancellation.

THIS EPISODE: November 13, 1963. "The Clampetts Are Overdrawn" - After seeing the pool man putting chlorine in the pool, thinking it is poison and getting a letter they are overdrawn, the Clampetts think that they are broke and Drysdale is trying to get rid of them. However, this is all a misunderstanding, since the letter Jed got was meant for another J.D. Clampett, Jake, who is an out-of-work actor. When Jake gets Jed’s letter, he takes advantage of the notice that he has thirty-six million dollars, buying a new car and other things. Meanwhile, Granny thinks they spent all their money, and the Clampetts still wonder if Drysdale is trying to get rid of them, after they get threatened by a cop, see a man with hot tar in front of their house, and their water is shut off. Jed decides that they still need to earn the money that is overdrawn, so they decide to look for jobs to pay back the money. But Jane calls the Clampetts and soon learns an imposter has drawn out Jed’s money. Jake Clampett is arrested, and when the Clampetts hear this, they decide that if he is related to them, they want to have him over. Jake and his wife Opal visit, meet the family, and stay with them a week.

23. The Fat Man - Murder Shows A Card (1952)
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Murder Shows A Card (1952)
"There he goes across the street into the drugstore, steps on the scale, height: 6 feet, weight: 290 pounds, fortune: Danger. Who isit? THE FAT MAN." Brad Runyon was the Fat Man, played by Jack Scott Smart. The series was created by Dashall Hammott and was first heard on the ABC network Jan. 21, 1946. J. Scott Smart fit the part of the Fat Man perfectly, weighing in at 270 pounds himself. When he spoke, there was no doubt that this was the voice of a big guy. Smart gave a witty, tongue-in-cheek performance and helped make THE FAT MAN one of the most popular detective programs on the air. Smart also appeared in The March Of Time (early 1930s), the Theater Guild On The Air, Blondie, The Fred Allen Show, and The Jack Benny Program. There was also an version made in Australia, syndicated on the Artansa lable, about 1954. There are at least 36 shows available from vendors. The Australian Fat Man was played possibly by Lloyd Berrell. Although not featuring J. Scott Smart, who really fit the part, the series is quite good.

THIS EPISODE: 1952. ABC network. "Murder Shows A Card" Sponsored by: Pepto Bismol, Unguentine. - J. Scott Smart, Dick Beals (commercial spokesman), Clark Andrews (director), Bernard Green (conductor), Bryna Raeburn, Charles Irving (announcer), Lawrence Klee (writer), Jean Ellen. 29:30.

24. That Hammer Guy (Mike Hammer) - The Laura Fenton Case (04-14-53)
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The Laura Fenton Case (Posted April 14, 1953)
Mickey Spillane wrote violent, sex-filled tales that epitomized the hard-boiled detective genre of tough guys, fist fights and sultry dames. That Hammer Guy was a detective drama well inside the hard-boiled tradition. This was the rough and rugged series that hit hard and fast and it was unlike some other shows, such as, "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" or "Richard Diamond" that where more upbeat with humor and sly wit. Mike Hammer believes in justice, rough justice... his justice. The show didn't have a long run, only from January 6, 1953 and until October 5, 1953. Much tamer than the novels (it was radio after all) the show petered out with the advent of TV and the general fading of radio's golden age.

THIS EPISODE: April 14, 1953. Mutual network. Sustaining. Laura Fenton offers $1000 to be the bodyguard of a beauty from France named, "Jolie." Mike's client soon turns into a corpse, "Jolie" turns out to be a French poodle! The story is complete, some public service announcements and the program closing have been deleted. The date is approximate. Larry Haines, Mickey Spillane (creator). 26:13.

25. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Rifleman" - Outlaw's Inheritance (06-16-59)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Rifleman" - Outlaw's Inheritance(Aired June 16, 1959)
Westerns were popular when The Rifleman premiered, and producers struggled to find gimmicks to distinguish one show from another. The Rifleman's gimmick was a modified Winchester Model 1892 rifle with a trigger mechanism allowing for rapid-fire shots. Despite the anachronism of a Model 1892 in the 1880s, Connors demonstrated its rapid-fire action during the opening credits as McCain dispatched an unseen villain on North Fork's main street. Although the rifle may have appeared in every episode, it was not always fired, as some plots did not lend themselves to violent solutions, e.g., a cruel teacher at Mark's one-room school. There were several episodes where McCain dispatched the bad guys without the use of the rifle at all and he once threw the rifle to knock his opponent off his horse instead of killing him because he was a friend. In one episode McCain even "spiked" the barrel of his own gun when he knew it was going to fall into the hands of the villain so that it would backfire. McCain was also well versed in the use of a six gun although he did not own one and this aspect was rarely shown.

THIS EPISODE: June 16, 1959. "Outlaw's Inheritance" - The towns' people question the reputation of Lucas when he is named in a will of a notorious outlaw. William Bishop - Dabbs Greer - Harlan Warde - Bartlett Robinson - Robert Foulk. Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Don Taylor.

26. The Whistler - The Man Who Bought Death (05-21-45)
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The Man Who Bought Death (Aired May 21, 1945)
The Whistler was one of radio's most popular mystery dramas, with a 13-year run from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. If it now seems to have been influenced explicitly by The Shadow, The Whistler was no less popular or credible with its listeners, the writing was first class for its genre, and it added a slightly macabre element of humor that sometimes went missing in The Shadow's longer-lived crime stories. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series' fame, over 200 episodes are lost today. In 1946, a local Chicago version of The Whistler with local actors aired Sundays on WBBM, sponsored by Meister Brau beer.

THIS EPISODE: May 21, 1945. CBS Pacific network. "The Man Who Bought Death". Sponsored by: Signal Oil. A small time hood gets into the counterfeiting business, with surprising results. Wilbur Hatch (music), Marvin Miller (announcer), Ray Buffum (writer), George W. Allen (director). 29:32.

27. Your's Truly Johnny Dollar - Little Man Who Wasnt All There (10-29-49)
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Little Man Who Wasnt All There (Aired October 29, 1949)
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a radio drama about a freelance insurance investigator "with the action-packed expense account." The show aired on CBS Radio from February 11, 1949 to September 30, 1962. There were 811 episodes in the 12-year run, and over 720 still exist today. As originally conceived, Johnny Dollar was a smart, tough, wisecracking detective who tossed silver-dollar tips to waiters and bellhops. Dick Powell starred in the audition show, recorded in 1948, but withdrew from the role in favor of other projects. The role went instead to Charles Russell. With the first three actors to play Johnny Dollar -- radio actor Russell and movie tough-guy actors Edmond O'Brien and John Lund -- there was little to distinguish Johnny Dollar from other detective series at the time (Richard Diamond, Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade). While always a friend of the police, Johnny wasn't necessarily a stickler for the strictest interpretation of the law. He was willing to let some things slide to satisfy his own sense of justice, as long as the interests of his employer were protected. After a year-long break (August 1954 to August 1955), the show changed from a 30-minute, one-episode-per-week affair to a 15-minute, five-nights-a-week serial that introduced the most successful Johnny Dollar: Bob Bailey, who had just come off another network detective series, Let George Do It. With a new lead and 75 minutes of air time (minus commercials), it became possible to develop more complex story lines with interesting characters. Bob Bailey was exceptionally good in this format, making Johnny more sensitive and thoughtful in addition to his other attributes. It is agreed by many that this single season of five-part stories constitute some of the greatest drama in vintage radio. The serial scripts were usually written by radio veterans Jack Johnstone or Les Crutchfield, and always produced and directed by Johnstone.

THIS EPISODE: October 29, 1949. CBS network. "The Little Man Who Wasn't There". Sustaining. A madman in San Francisco tackles an insurance company singled-handed...by killing off the policy holders one by one! Charles Russell, Jay Novello, Martha Wentworth, Paul Dubov, GeGe Pearson, Lawrence Dobkin, Wilbur Hatch (music). 29:37.

28. Crime Does Not Pay - Once Too Often (07-10-50)
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Once Too Often (Aired July 10, 1950)
Crime Does Not Pay was a series based on short films of the same name produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was similar to Gangbusters, having a moralistic message about the law and lawbreaker. It was first heard over WMGM (NYC), hosted by Donald Buka. The last original show aired on Apr. 11, 1951. The series started on Monday evenings at 7:30 PM (on WMGM) and held that time/day spot until Oct. 30, 1950. The 56'th show marked a change to Wednesday night, again at 7:30. After show number 78 (Apr.11, 1951) the shows were repeated, starting with the first, "Kid With a Gun". The repeats followed the original order up until repeat of number 26, "Ingenious Woman" on Oct. 10, 1951. Repeats were not uncommon. Even before the last original show, older shows were repeated on alternate dates to the main series run. On Jan. 7, 1952, the series moved to Mutual but lasted just one year. Only repeats of the original series were aired and show ordering did not match the first run. The show was heard on Dec. 22, 1952.

THIS EPISODE: July 10, 1950. Program #40. MGM syndication. "Once Too Often". Commercials added locally. A gangster's trigger man takes the rap for murder and expects to be rewarded when he gets out of jail on parole. However, his boss wants him to go straight. The program features an unusually sincere performance by Herbert Rudley as, "Ollie The Lug." The date above is the date of the first broadcast on WMGM, New York, from which this syndicated version may have been taken. Burton B. Turkas (technical advisor), Herbert Rudley, Ira Marion (writer), Jon Gart (composer, conductor), Marx B. Loeb (producer, director). 27:22.

29. The Abbott & Costello Show - Trying To Hire The Andrews Sisters (04-05-45)
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Trying To Hire The Andrews Sisters (Aired April 5, 1945)
The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (usually, by singers such as Connie Haines, Marilyn Maxwell, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Skinnay Ennis, and the Les Baxter Singers). Regulars and semi-regulars on the show included Artie Auerbrook, Elvia Allman, Iris Adrian, Mel Blanc, Wally Brown, Sharon Douglas, Verna Felton, Sidney Fields, Frank Nelson, Martha Wentworth, and Benay Venuta. Ken Niles was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott & Costello's mishaps (and often fuming in character as Costello insulted his on-air wife routinely); he was succeeded by Michael Roy, with annoncing chores also handled over the years by Frank Bingman and Jim Doyle. The show went through several orchestras during its radio life, including those of Ennis, Charles Hoff, Matty Matlock, Jack Meaking, Will Osborne, Freddie Rich, Leith Stevens, and Peter van Steeden. The show's writers included Howard Harris, Hal Fimberg, Parke Levy, Don Prindle, Ed Cherokee, Len Stern, Martin Ragaway, Paul Conlan, and Ed Forman, as well as producer Martin Gosch. Sound effects were handled mostly by Floyd Caton. Abbott and Costello moved the show to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) five years after they premiered on NBC. During their ABC period they also hosted a 30-minute children's radio program(The Abbott and Costello Children's Show), which aired Saturday mornings with vocalist Anna Mae Slaughter and announcer Johnny McGovern.

THIS EPISODE: April 5, 1945. NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. The "U-Drive" routine, very funny. The boys Hire The "Andrews Brothers" for their show. Bud Abbott, Connie Haines, Lou Costello, Will Osborne and His Orchestra, Ken Niles (announcer). 29:56.

30. Richard Diamond Private Detective - The Merry Go Round Murder Case (1-04-52)
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The Merry Go Round Murder Case (Aired January 4, 1952)
Richard Diamond, Private Detective was a radio show starring Dick Powell which aired from 1949 to 1953, first on NBC, then ABC and finally on CBS. The title character was a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his girlfriend, Helen. The television series was produced by Powell's company, Four Star Television, and that series ran for 3 years from 1957 to 1960. On TV, David Janssen played the hard boiled private eye and his secretary renamed “Sam”, was only ever shown on camera from the waist down, most assurardidly to display her beautiful legs. It was later leared that the legs belonged to Mary Tyler Moore. Original music by Frank DeVol and pete rugolo and later by richard shores. Good scripts, a solid cast and Powell’s exceptional talent made a good time 30 minute program that was quite popular during that Golden Age of Radio. So Let’s sit back now, relax and enjoy this truly otr radio classic.,…, Dick powell as Richard Diamond.., Private Detective.

THIS EPISODE: January 4, 1952. ABC network. "The Merry Go Round Murder". Sponsored by: Camels, Prince Albert tobacco. Ben Johnson, Diamond's old pal who's still on the police force, has been shot by "Smiley Brill." The trail leads to a merry-go-round. Dick sings, "Warm Feeling" after the story. Dick Powell, Virginia Gregg, Howard McNear, Herb Butterfield, Alan Reed, Paul Richards, Richard Carr (writer, director), Frank Worth (music). 29:30.

31. Dragnet - The Big Press (02-08-53)
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The Big Press (Aired February 8, 1953)
Dragnet was a long-running radio and television police procedural drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program’s format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday’s deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as "a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring." (Dunning, 210) Friday’s first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows. While most radio shows used one or two sound effects experts, Dragnet needed five; a script clocking in at just under 30 minutes could require up to 300 separate effects. Accuracy was underlined: The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were imitated, and when a telephone rang at Friday’s desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters.

THIS EPISODE: February 8, 1953. Program #190. NBC network. "The Big Press". Sponsored by: Chesterfield. A pair of check forgers are at work in Los Angeles. Sgt. Friday goes undercover to track them down. Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, George Fenneman (announcer), Hal Gibney (announcer), Art Gilmore, Whitfield Connor, John Robinson (writer), Walter Schumann (music). 29:28.

32. The Clock - Angel With Two Faces (05-25-47)
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Angel With Two Faces (Aired May 25, 1947)
The Clock, Imported from Austrailia, was a dramatic thirty-minute suspense and mystery series. It was written by Lawrence Klee and was first broadcast in November 1946. The story always began the same; “Sunrise and sunset, promise and fulfilment, birth and death … the whole drama of life is written in the sands of time”. This is a great series where the main theme seems to be Retribution. Stories as told by Father Time.

THIS EPISODE: May 25, 1947. Program #51. Grace Gibson syndication. "The Angel With Two Faces". Commercials added locally. A reporter interviews a beautiful woman just cleared of a murder charge and finds her a "lady." The date above is the date the program was broadcast on ABC. Wendy Clayfair, John Mellion, Lawrence Klee (writer), Harp McGuire (as "The Clock"), Guy Dalman, Al Thomas, Jocelyn Hernfield, John Saul (director), Grace Gibson (producer). 26:31.

33. Danger With Granger - Insanity Was Just An Act (1957)
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Insanity Was Just An Act (1957)
Danger With Granger arrived too late in the Golden Age of Radio to have any real impact on the listening public. Mutual aired this show, starting in 1956, on Monday nights at 8:30 pm. It was a half hour show that featured a private eye in New York City, STEVE GRANGER. His two primary companions were Cal Hendrix, a reporter who served as an all-purpose source of criminal info, and Jake Rankin, a police detective with whom he had a grudging rivalry. The writing on the show seemed to incorporate most of the standard cliche's of the P.I. world. Granger, who was both the star and the first-person narrator of the show (not an uncommon practice with radio gumshoes), never saw a woman, instead "he gave the doll the once-over." He didn't kick with his foot, he "lifted a size 10." Instead of paying cash, he "forked over numbered lettuce." The mysteries he solved were fairly reasonable, and while he was a tough guy who roughed up lesser mortals, he seemed to get knocked unconscious at least once in every program.

34. Beulah Show - 2 Episodes (01-26-54) (01-28-54)
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"Bill's Streetcar Lunchroom" (01-26-54) and "Lunchroom Grand Opening" (01-28-54)
The Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran in radio on CBS from 1945 to 1954, and in television on ABC from 1950 to 1953. It is notable for being the first sitcom to star an African American. Originally portrayed by Caucasian actor Marlin Hurt, Beulah Brown first appeared in 1939 when Hurt introduced and played the character on the Hometown Incorporated radio series and in 1940 on NBC radio's Show Boat series. In 1943, Beulah moved over to That's Life and then became a supporting character on the popular Fibber McGee and Molly radio series in late 1944. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into her own radio show, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show, with Hurt still in the role. Beulah was employed as a housekeeper and cook for the Henderson family: father Harry, mother Alice and son Donnie. After Hurt died of a heart attack in 1946, he was replaced by another white actor, Bob Corley, and the series was retitled The Beulah Show. When black actress Hattie McDaniel took over the role on November 24, 1947, she earned $1000 a week for the first season, doubled the ratings of the original series and pleased the NAACP which was elated to see a historic first: a black woman as the star of a network radio program. McDaniel continued in the role until she became ill in 1952 and was replaced by Lillian Randolph, who was in turn replaced for the 1953-54 radio season by her sister, Amanda Randolph.

35. Broadway Is My Beat - The Andrew Jenkins Case (03-06-49)
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The Andrew Jenkins Case (Aired March 6, 1949)
Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With music by Robert Stringer, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air, with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb. Beginning with the July 7, 1949 episode, the series was broadcast from Hollywood with producer Elliott Lewis directing a new cast in scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The opening theme of "I'll Take Manhattan" introduced Detective Danny Clover (now played by Larry Thor), a hardened New York City cop who worked homicide "from Times Square to Columbus Circle -- the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."

THIS EPISODE: March 6, 1949. CBS network. Sustaining. A missing hick from Indiana named Andrew Jenkins leads Lt. Clover to "Golden" Gold. Anthony Ross (introducer), Charlotte Holland, Frank Butler, Jean Carson, John Dietz (director), John Forsythe, Maurice Gosfield, Peter Lyon (writer), Robert Stringer (composer, conductor), Tom Hoyer, Bern Bennett (announcer). 29:20.

36. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot - The Trail Led To Death (11-16-45)
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The Trail Led To Death (Aired November 16, 1945)
Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie's greatest creation, many say. One of the most famous detectives in all fiction, he was created in 1916 (when Agatha Christie penned the first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles). The Belgian detective appeared in 33 novels and 65 short stories and is the only fictional character to be honored with a front page obituary of The New York Times. He doesn't have any disorders to speak of, but demands order. He likes things in an orderly manner (ie, books arranged on a shelf according to height) and approves of symmetry everywhere (residence Whitehaven Mansions is picked because of its symmetry). He despises dust and unclean homes and favors the indoors (especially central heating in the winter). Poirot also values method--to him the greatest method or tool in solving crime is using the "gray cells" of the brain. He derides such methods as examing footprints, collecting cigarette ash, searching for clues with a magnifying glass, or taking fingerprints. He says any crime can be solved with simply placing the puzzle pieces correctly. He is an armchair detective-- he has to simply "sit still in an armchair and think". Of course, Poirot's mustache is as famous as his "little gray cells". He has pride is his luscious, waxed black mustache and is always meticulously dressed down to his patent leather shoes.

37. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Wild Bill Hickock" - The Gold Maker (11-19-51)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Wild Bill Hickock" - The Gold Maker (Aired November 19, 1951)
This juvenile western followed the same format as the TV show of the same name that ran throughout the same years. This format certainly was not new as the charismatic hero and comic side-kick was something that had been done before with Hopalong Cassidy and The Cisco Kid, and to some extent with the Lone Ranger. FIRST BROADCAST: May 17, 1951 LAST BROADCAST: February 12, 1956 SPONSORS: Kellog CAST: Guy Madison and Andy Devine. ANNOUNCERS: Charlie Lyon PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Paul Pierce.

THIS EPISODE: November 19, 1951. Program #34. Mutual network. "The Gold Maker". Sponsored by: Kellogg's Corn Pops. A con-man is selling the secret of making gold. The system cue is added live, the date is approximate. Guy Madison, Andy Devine, Charles Lyon (announcer), Richard Aurandt (music), David Hire (producer), Paul Pierce (director), Parley Baer, Joseph Du Val, Fred Howard, Ralph Moody, Jack Moyles. 24:26.

38. The Adventures Of The Falcon - The Case Of The Substitute Target (01-21-51)
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The Case Of The Substitute Target (Aired January 21, 1951)
This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1945, and then came to TV ten years later in this Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; Charles McGraw had been in many motion pictures before and after including "The Killers", "Spartacus" and "Cimarron"; in this series he played the title role of a man whose real name was supposedly Mike Waring, an American agent whose code name was "Falcon"; Later Charles McGraw starred in a short lived TV version of "Casablanca" (1955 - 1956) in the character of Rick; He also had a role on the detective drama "Staccato" (1959) Actor McGraw (whose birth name was Charles Butters) met an unfortunate death in real life when he fell through a shower glass door in 1980 at his home in Studio City, CA.

THIS EPISODE: January 21, 1951. NBC network. "The Case Of The Substitute Target". Sponsored by: Kraft Foods. Michael Waring solves a series of gangland rubouts by double-crossing a double-crosser. Ed Herlihy (announcer), Drexel Drake (creator), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Jerome Epstein (writer), Richard Lewis (director), Arlo (music), Les Damon, Ken Lynch. 30:17.

39. The Casebook Of Gregory Hood - Three Silver Pesos (06-03-46)
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Three Silver Pesos (Aired June 3, 1946)
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Gale Gordon in the title role, took over where Sherlock Holmes had left off. Sponsored by Petri wine, it used the same "weekly visit" format and the same team of Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green that had written The New Adventured of Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood was modelled after true-life San Francisco importer Richard Gump, and many of the stories revolve around a mystery surrounding some particular imported treasure. Hood's sidekick Sanderson "Sandy" Taylor was played by Bill Johnstone. The show aired from June, 1946 through August, 1950. There were an additional couple of shows aired in October 1951. Hood and Sanderson were played in later episodes by Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, respectively.

THIS EPISODE: June 3, 1946. Mutual network. "The Three Silver Pesos". Sponsored by: Petri Wine. The first show of the series, a nearly identical format to the Sherlock Holmes broadcasts on Mutual. This is the start of a summer replacement series for Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood continued on Mutual for the next three years when the Sherlock Holmes broadcasts switched to ABC. Harrison Tavers dies on the Golden Gate Bridge with a vial of cyanide in his pocket, a heart attack and a fatal stab wound! When Hood picks up a beautiful hitch-hiker, he loses his car and his corpse! The story features an interesting plot with lots of dead bodies...including one dead man who kills his killer! Gale Gordon, Dean Fosler (composer, conductor), William Johnstone, Denis Green (writer), Anthony Boucher (writer), Harry Bartell (announcer). 29:29.

40. The Jack Benny Program - Jack Sees A Doctor (11-07-54)
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Jack Sees A Doctor (Aired November 7, 1954)
The Jack Benny Program is a classic comedy that is truly one of the best-loved programs from the Golden Age of Radio. It started life as The Canada Dry Program in 1932 on the Blue Network and finished off as The Lucky Strike Program on CBS in 1955. In between, it kept the audience in stitches and established Benny as one of America's all-time great comedians. The format of the show, and the personality of its star, so well honed in two decades on radio, made the transition to television almost intact. Jack's stinginess, vanity about his supposed age of 39, basement vault where he kept all his money, ancient Maxwell automobile, and feigned ineptness at playing the violin were all part of the act. Added to Jack's famous pregnant pause and exasperated "Well!" were a rather mincing walk, an affected hand to the cheek, and a painted look of disbelief when confronted by life's little tragedies.

41. The Challenge Of The Yukon - 2 Episodes From 1944
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"The Man From Missouri" (Aired June 15, 1944) and "Design For Murder" (Aired June 22m 1944)
Challenge of the Yukon was a long-running radio series that began on Detroit's station WXYZ (as had The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet). The series was first heard on February 3, 1938. Under the title Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, it later transferred to television. The program was an adventure series about Sergeant William Preston of the Northwest Mounted Police and his lead sled dog, Yukon King, as they fought evildoers in the Northern wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. Preston, according to radio historian Jim Harmon, first joined the Mounties to capture his father's killer, and when he was successful he was promoted to Sergeant. Preston worked under the command of Inspector Conrad, and in the early years was often assisted by a French-Canadian guide named Pierre. Preston's staunchest ally, who was arguably the true star of the show and indeed often did more work than he did, was the brave Alaskan husky, Yukon King. Typical plots involved the pair helping injured trappers, tracking down smugglers, or saving cabin dwellers from wolverines. Sgt. Preston's faithful steed was Rex, used primarily in the summer months, but generally Yukon King and his dog team were the key mode of transportation (as signalled by Preston's cry of "On, King! On, you huskies!." There is some confusion regarding King's actual breed. The producers seemed to use malamute and husky interchangeably. At lease once, Preston answered "malamute" to the question from another character. In the early radio shows, the cry of "On, you huskies!" would alternate with "On, you malamutes" from show to show.

TODAY'S SHOW June 15, 1944. Program #333. WXYZ, Detroit origination, The Michigan Radio Network. "The Man From Missouri". Sustaining. Jim Barlow brags that he can score a hit at the spitoon from any point in his cabin at World's End. When Jim and his gold disappears, Sergeant Preston suspects Dave McClennan of the crime. Jay Michael, Jack McCarthy (announcer), Betty Joyce (writer). 14:12.

June 22, 1944. Program #334. WXYZ, Detroit origination, The Michigan Radio Network. "Design For Murder". Sustaining. Two bad guys rob the bank at Morriston and kill the teller. Sergeant Preston sets in pursuit. Jay Michael, Jack McCarthy (announcer), Betty Joyce (writer). 14:11.

42. The Saint - The Cake That Killed (01-08-50)
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The Cake That Killed (Aired January 8, 1950)
THE SAINT first came to radio in 1940, with American produced programs starting in 1945. While not the first actor to bring Templar to life over the air, it was surprisingly (at least to me) Vincent Price who played the role for the longest period, from 1947 until 1951. Knowing Price for his screen persona, it is odd at first to hear him doing this wise-cracking and lighthearted rogue. Some episodes in the Radio Spirit collection are almost slapstick, with Price being hit over the head, slapped and even thrown overboard in a single episode. It’s apparent that Price is having fun with the show, possibly as it allows him to play the handsome leading man rather than the darker heavies he was already beginning to be known for on screen. One intersting side note is that when Price left the show he was replaced by actor Tom Conway, the real life brother of George Sanders. At the time Conway had recently finished appearing in a series of films as The Falcon, a character almost identical to that being played by his brother also for RKO Studios.

43. Amos & Andy - The Prentiss Clothing Company (03-23-45)
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The Prentiss Clothing Company (Aired March 23, 1945)
Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. The show began as one of the first radio comedy serials, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll and originating from station WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois. After the series was first broadcast in 1928, it grew in popularity and became a huge influence on the radio serials that followed. Amos 'n' Andy creators Gosden and Correll were white actors familiar with minstrel traditions. They met in Durham, North Carolina in 1920, and by the fall of 1925, they were performing nightly song-and-patter routines on the Chicago Tribune's station WGN. Since the Tribune syndicated Sidney Smith's popular comic strip The Gumps, which had successfully introduced the concept of daily continuity, WGN executive Ben McCanna thought the notion of a serialized drama could also work on radio. He suggested to Gosden and Correll that they adapt The Gumps to radio. They instead proposed a series about "a couple of colored characters" and borrowed certain elements of The Gumps. Their new series, Sam 'n' Henry, began January 12, 1926, fascinating radio listeners throughout the Midwest. That series became popular enough that in late 1927 Gosden and Correll requested that it be distributed to other stations on phonograph records in a "chainless chain" concept that would have been the first use of radio syndication as we know it today. When WGN rejected the idea, Gosden and Correll quit the show and the station that December. Contractually, their characters belonged to WGN, so when Gosden and Correll left WGN, they performed in personal appearances but could not use the character names from the radio show.

THIS EPISODE: March 23, 1945. NBC network. Sponsored by: Rinso. Andy's been offered a job paying $75 a week, as the Harlem sales representative of The Prentice Clothing Company. The Kingfish has a plan to become Andy's manager for half of his salary. Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll, The Mystic Knights Of The Sea Quartet, Lou Lubin, Harlow Wilcox (announcer), James Basquette. 29:26.

44. 21st Precinct - The Nolen Brothers (07-07-53)
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The Nolen Brothers (Aired July 7, 1953)
21st Precinct was one of the realistic police drama series of the early- to mid-1950's that were aired in the wake of Dragnet. In 1953 CBS decided to use New York City as the backdrop for their own half-hour police series and focus on the day-to-day operation of a single police precinct. Actual cases were used as the basis for stories. The Precinct Captain acted as the narrator for the series.The official title of the series according to the series scripts and the CBS series promotional materials was 21ST PRECINCT and not TWENTY-FIRST PRECINCT or TWENTY FIRST PRECINCT which appears in many Old-Time Radio books. In 1953 CBS decided to use New York City as the backdrop for their own half-hour police series and focus on the day-to-day operations of a single police precinct. Actual cases would be used as the basis for stories. It was mentioned in each episode's closing by the announcer that, "Twenty-firstPrecinct is presented with the official cooperation of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association an organization of more than 20,000 members of the Police Department, City of New York."

THIS EPISODE: July 7, 1953. CBS network. "The Nolen Brothers" - Sustaining. The first show of the series. An exciting story about three desperate bank robbers trapped in a Bronx apartment and more than willing to shoot it out. Everett Sloane, Lawson Zerbe, Mandel Kramer, Ken Lynch, Joan Lorring, Barbara Weeks, Art Hannes (announcer), Bill Lipton, Wendell Holmes, Stanley Niss (writer, director), John Ives (director). 1/2 hour.

45. The Adventures Of Sam Spade - The Calcutta Trunk Caper (06-08-47)
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The Calcutta Trunk Caper (Aired June 8, 1947)
The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951. The series starred Howard Duff (and later, Steve Dunne) as Sam Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie, and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character than the novel or movie. In 1947, scriptwriters Jason James and Bob Tallman received an Edgar Award for Best Radio Drama from the Mystery Writers of America. Before the series, Sam Spade had been played in radio adaptations of The Maltese Falcon by both Edward G. Robinson (in a 1943 Lux Radio Theater production) and by Bogart himself (in a 1946 Academy Award Theater production), both on CBS.

THIS EPISODE: June 8, 1947. Program #329. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Calcutta Trunk Caper". Constance Pendleton is about to marry Andreyev Brodnick, a Bulgarian bluebeard. Spade finds himself enroute to India aboard the "S. S. Lurene" ("Hmm, that's pretty," says Effie!). AFRS program name: "Mystery Playhouse.

46. The Story Of Dr. Kildare - Gordon Mallory's Lead Poisoning (06-08-50)
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Gordon Mallory's Lead Poisoning (Aired June 8, 1950)
Dr. James Kildare was a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show. The character was invented by the author Frederick Schiller Faust (aka Max Brand). The character began in the film series as a medical intern; after becoming a doctor he was mentored by an older physician, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. After the first ten films, the series eliminated the character of Kildare and focused instead on Gillespie. In the summer of 1949, MGM reunited Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore to record the radio series, The Story of Dr. Kildare, scripted by Les Crutchfield, Jean Holloway and others. After broadcasts on WMGM New York from February 1, 1950 to August 3, 1951, the series was syndicated to other stations during the 1950s. The supporting cast included Ted Osborne as hospital administrator Dr. Carough, Jane Webb as nurse Mary Lamont and Virginia Gregg as Nurse Parker, labeled "Nosy Parker" by Gillespie, with appearances by William Conrad, Stacy Harris, Jay Novello, Isabel Jewell and Jack Webb.

THIS EPISODE: June 8, 1950. Program #20. WMGM, New York City-Mutual network origination, MGM syndication. "Gordon Mallory's Lead Poisoning", Commercials added locally. A construction worker is suffering from lead poisoning...and then a second worker develops the same symptoms. How did they contract the disease? The closing theme has been deleted. Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Tony Barrett, Dick Joy (announcer), Jean Holloway (writer), William P. Rousseau (director), Walter Schumann (composer, conductor), Eleanor Audley, Ted Osborne, Dick Simmons, Jack Petruzzi, Lillian Buyeff. 27:37.

47. Let George Do It - The Harding Bookshop Mystery (11-08-46)
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The Harding Bookshop Mystery (Aired November 8, 1946)
Let George Do It was a radio drama series produced by Owen and Pauline Vinson from 1946 to 1954. It starred Bob Bailey as detective-for-hire George Valentine (with Olan Soule stepping into the role in 1954). Clients came to Valentine's office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad: "Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine." Valentine's secretary was Claire Brooks, aka Brooksie (Frances Robinson, Virginia Gregg, Lillian Buyeff). As Valentine made his rounds in search of the bad guys, he usually encounted Brooksie's kid brother, Sonny (Eddie Firestone), Lieutenant Riley (Wally Maher) and elevator man Caleb (Joseph Kearns). Sponsored by Standard Oil, the program was broadcast on the West Coast Mutual Broadcasting System from October 18, 1946 to September 27, 1954, first on Friday evenings and then on Mondays. In its last season, transcriptions were aired in New York, Wednesdays at 9:30pm, from January 20, 1954 to January 12, 1955. John Hiestand was the program's announcer. Don Clark directed the scripts by David Victor and Jackson Gillis. The background music was supplied by Eddie Dunstedter on the organ.

THIS EPISODE: November 8, 1946. Mutual-Don Lee network. "The Harding Bookshop Mystery" - Sponsored by: Standard Oil, Chevron. An eccentric book dealer dies, and George is hired to find his missing money. The clue lies with Mary...and her little lamb! Bob Bailey, Frances Robinson, Eddie Firestone, Jane Morgan, Evelyn Scott, Paul McVey, Harry Bartell, Bud Hiestand (announcer), Polly Hopkins (writer), Owen Vinson (producer, director), Charles Dant (composer, conductor), Bud Hiestand (announcer). 29:29.

48. Crime & Peter Chambers - Cufflink Is (07-06-54)
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Cufflink Is (Aired July 6, 1954)
This program was born from a detective book series and inspired by author Henry Kane who became the director and producer for the radio show. The series only ran five months, 30 minutes each episode, from April 6, 1954 to September 7, 1954. Peter Chambers was played by Dane Clark who also appeared on the Suspense radio shows. Chambers acted the role of a playboy detective with an eye for solving crime and a taste for the women. Bill Zuckert, who went on to guest star in many 1970s shows including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the Partridge Family, plays Lt. Parker.

THIS EPISODE: July 6, 1954. NBC network. "Cufflink Is" - Sustaining. Dane Clark, Henry Kane (creator, writer), Fred Collins (announcer), William Zuckert, William Griffis, Lesley Woods, Fred Weihe (director), Jim Jordan (promotional announcement), Marian Jordan (promotional announcement). 24:14.

49. CBS Radio Mystery Theater - Killer's Helper (09-07-76)
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Killer's Helper (Aired September 7, 1976)
The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT) was an ambitious and sustained attempt to revive the great drama of old-time radio in the 1970s. Created by Himan Brown (who had by then become a radio legend due to his work on Inner Sanctum Mysteries and other shows dating back to the 1930s), and aired on affiliate stations across the CBS Radio network, the series began its long run on January 6, 1974. The final episode ran on December 31, 1982. The show was broadcast nightly and ran for one hour, including commercials. Typically, a week consisted of three to four new episodes, with the remainder of the week filled out with reruns. There were a total of 1399 original episodes broadcast. The total number of broadcasts, including reruns, was 2969. The late E.G. Marshall hosted the program every year but the final one, when actress Tammy Grimes took over. Each episode began with the ominous sound of a creaking door, slowly opening to invite listeners in for the evening's adventure. At the end of each show, the door would swing shut, with Marshall signing off, "Until next time, pleasant...dreams?"

THIS EPISODE: September 7, 1976. Program #514. CBS network. "Killer's Helper". Sponsored by: Budweiser, Contac. E. G. Marshall (host), Sam Dann (writer), Michael Wager, Joan Lovejoy, Robert Dryden, Evie Juster. 52 minutes.

50. The Lineup - Murder In A Card Game (12-24-52)
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Murder In A Card Game (Aired December 24, 1952)
The Lineup is a realistic police drama that gives radio audiences a look behind the scenes at police headquarters. Bill Johnstone plays Lt. Ben Guthrie, a quiet, calm-as-a-cupcake cucumber. Joseph Kearns (and from 1951 to 1953, Matt Maher) plays Sgt. Matt Grebb, a hot-tempered hot plate who is easily bored. The director and script writer often rode with police on the job and sat in on the police lineups to get ideas for The Lineup. They also read dozens of newspapers daily and intermeshed real stories with those that they used in the show. With Dragnet a smash hit, realism in police dramas was popular at the time this show aired. Don’t be caught without this radio show in your collection!

51. Police Headquarters - 2 Episodes From 1932
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Ep.1 "Red Dugan Murder" & EP.2 Laundry Truck-Napping" (1932)
There is not too much known about the series Police Headquarters. There are 39 known episodes of this police procedural series. The series was syndicated on NBC stations in 1932. Each episode is a complete story of 15 minutes, including the silent movie music at the beginning and end. There is not much to the story line: the police are notified of the crime; they investigate at the scene of the crime; and follow the leads to get their man. Best of all each story gives a glimpse into the 1930s and they are interesting to hear. Broadcasters Program Syndicate/Bruce Eells and Associates syndication. Music fill for local commercial insert.

52. Rogue's Gallery - Lady With A Gun (06-30-46)
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Rogue's Gallery - Lady With A Gun (Aired June 30, 1946)
Rogue's Gallery came to the Mutual network on September 27, 1945 with Dick Powell portraying Richard Rogue, a private detective who invariably ended up getting knocked out each week and spending his dream time in acerbic conversation with his subconscious self, Eugor. Rogue's Gallery was, in a sense, Dick Powell's rehearsal for Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Powell played private detective Richard Rogue, who trailed luscious blondes, protected witness, and did whatever else detectives do to make a living. It was a good series, though not destined to make much of a mark. Under the capable direction of Dee Englebach and accompanied by the music of Leith Stevens, Powell floated through his lines with the help of such competents as Lou Merrill, Gerald Mohr, Gloria Blondell, Tony Barrett, and Lurene Tuttle. Peter Leeds played Rogue's friend Eugor, an obscure play on names with Eugor spelling Rogue backwards. The gimmick in Rogue's Gallery was the presence of an alter ego, "Eugor," who arrived in the middle of the show to give Rogue enough information for his final deduction. Eugor was a state of mind, achieved when Rogue was knocked unconcious. Eugor would appear cackling like the host of Hermit's Cave and imparted some vital information the hero had overlooked. Rogue would then awaken with a vague idea of what to do next. Rogue's Gallery also starred different actors as Rogue, in later incarnations of the series, but Richard Powell was the most popular. This series preceded Richard Powell's most famous series, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Rogue trailed lovely blondes and protected witnesses in the new tough guy persona of Dick Powell. This was the transition series for Powell in his quest to be recognized as an actor rather than a singer. It had some of the same cute elements that would make Richard Diamond a high spot four years later. During the summer of 1946, the show was billed as Bandwagon Mysteries, with a tip of the hat to the sponsor. In the summer of 1947, it was again revived on NBC Sundays for Fitch, with Barry Sullivan in the title role. In 1950 the character again turned up in a two-year sustainer on the ABC Wednesday-night schedule. Chester Morris played the lead. Chester Morris was the original Boston Blackie.

THIS EPISODE: June 30, 1946. Mutual network. "Lady With A Gun" - Sponsored by: Fitch's Shampoo. Rehearsal recording. After Matt Webb tries to start a fight in a nightclub with Richard Rogue, Mrs. Webb tries to hire him to investigate her husband. Rogue declines the case but finds himself involved the next day when Webb's body is found. Dick Powell blows a line and mutters "Holy Christ" before plowing on. Dee Englebach (producer, director), Dick Powell, Gerald Mohr, Jim Doyle (announcer), Leith Stevens (composer, conductor), Ray Buffum (writer), Peter Leeds. 28:50.

53. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - The Buffalo Hunters (06-07-52)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - The Buffalo Hunters (Aired June 7, 1952)
Gunsmoke - The radio show first aired on April 26, 1952 and ran until June 18, 1961 on the CBS radio network. The series starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program. Gunsmoke was notable for its critically acclaimed cast and writing, and is commonly regarded as one of the finest old time radio shows. Some listeners (such as old time radio expert John Dunning) have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts. Miss Kitty's occupation as a prostitute was made far more obvious on the radio version than on television. Many episodes ended on a down-note, and villains often got away with their crimes.

THIS EPISODE: June 7, 1952. CBS network. "Buffalo Hunters". Sustaining. An albino buffalo skin is the clue to the murder of two buffalo hunters, and their father. Part of one promotional announcement has been deleted. Georgia Ellis, Howard McNear, Joel Murcott (writer), Stan Waxman, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Sam Edwards, Lillian Buyeff, Tom Holland, Mary Lansing, Rex Koury (composer, conductor), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Clancey Cassell (announcer), William Conrad, Parley Baer. 29:18.

54. Escape - Shark Bait (07-14-50)
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Shark Bait (Aired July 14, 1950)
Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with the introduction, intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad: “Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!” Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven," George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," John Collier's "Evening Primrose", later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. Vincent Price and Harry Bartell were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key," the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats. The half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze.

THIS EPISODE: July 14, 1950. CBS network. "Shark Bait". Sponsored by: Richfield Oil. A good story about gun runners during a Central American revolution, with a surprise ending. Antony Ellis (performer, writer), Harry Bartell, Harry Bartell (composer, conductor), John Dehner, Mary Shipp, Paul Frees, Steve Roberts, Thomas Hanlon (announcer), Will Geer, William Conrad, William N. Robson (director). 29:43.

55. Pat Novak For Hire - Joe Dineen (06-19-49)
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Joe Dineen (Aired June 19, 1949)
Pat Novak, played by Jack Webb, was a private detective working out of Pier 19, a waterfront office in San Francisco. The stories were always very similar: Someone would hire him, (if not a beautiful woman, the job would lead to a beautiful woman) someone would get murdered, he would investigate the case, get beaten up by the thugs, and then the case would be solved and end with glorious violence. The closing was always the same; the listener would be told who had done what, to whom and why they had done it.

THIS EPISODE: June 19, 1949. ABC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. Who killed Joe Dineen, and why? And where is his safe deposit box? Jack Webb, Raymond Burr, Tudor Owen. 1/2 hour. Jack Webb, Raymond Burr, Tudor Owen, William P. Rousseau (producer, director), Herb Ellis, Parley Baer, George Fenneman (announcer), Basil Adlam (composer, conductor), Yvonne Peattie. 29:30.

56. Fibber McGee & Molly - Rummage Sale (01-15-52)
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Rummage Sale (Aired January 15, 1952)
Fibber McGee and Molly premiered in 1935. The program struggled in the ratings until 1940, when it became a national sensation. Within three years, it was the top-rated program in America. Few radio shows were more beloved than Fibber McGee and Molly. The program’s lovable characters included Mayor LaTrivia, Doc Gamble, Mrs. Uppington, Wallace Wimple, Alice Darling, Gildersleeve, Beulah, Myrt, and the Old Timer. 79 Wistful Vista was one of America’s most famous addresses and Molly’s warning to Fibber not to open the hall closet door (and his subsequent decision to do it) created one of radio’s best remembered running gags that audiences expected each week. Jim Jordan (Fibber) was born on a farm on November 16, 1896, near Peoria, Illinois. Marian Driscoll (Molly), a coal miner’s daughter, was born in Peoria on November 15, 1898. After years of hardship and touring in obscurity on the small-time show biz circuit, they arrived in Chicago in 1924, where they eventually performed on thousands of shows and developed 145 different voices and characters. Broadcast to the nation from WMAQ/Chicago, the show entertained America until March 1956, and continued on NBC’s Monitor until 1959. Jim Jordan died on April 1, 1988. Marian Jordan died on April 7, 1961. Fibber McGee and Molly was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. First Broadcast date April 16, 1935. Last Broadcast date September 6, 1959.

THIS EPISODE: January 15, 1952. NBC network. Sponsored by: Pet Milk. The McGees are holding a "Rummage Sale" and Fibber comes up with some good merchandise to sell. Jim Jordan, Marian Jordan, Harlow Wilcox, Billy Mills and His Orchestra, The King's Men, Keith Fowler (writer), Phil Leslie (writer), Max Hutto (director), Bill Thompson, Richard LeGrand, Myra Marsh, Bea Benaderet, Coline Collins. 29:26.

57. Suspense - Hitch-Hike Poker (09-16-48)
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Hitch-Hike Poker (Aired September 16, 1948)
Suspense was one of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (aka old-time radio), and advertised itself as "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." It was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. There were approximately 945 episodes broadcast during its long run, over 900 of which are extant in mostly high-quality recordings. Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors and director/producers. There were a few rules which were followed for all but a handful of episodes: Protagonists were usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation. Evildoers must be punished in the end.

THIS EPISODE: September 16, 1948. CBS network. "Hitch-Hike Poker". Sponsored by: Auto-Lite. A war veteran hitchhiking home for the weekend is picked up by a friendly guy in a convertible. His troubles are only beginning. Frank Martin (commercial spokesman), Ed Begley, Kaye Brinker, Lucien Moraweck (composer), Lud Gluskin (conductor), Gregory Peck, Anton M. Leader (producer, director), John Bagni (writer), Gwen Bagni (writer), Paul Frees (announcer), William Johnstone (commercial spokesman). 29:37.

58. Murder By Experts - Summer Heat (06-13-49)
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Summer Heat (Aired June 13, 1949)
Murder By Experts was a radio drama anthology series that ran on American radio from 1949-1951, and was hosted first by John Dickson Carr, and later by Brett Halliday. Evidently, a mystery, authored by a leading crime fiction writer, was presented, and "guest experts," such as Alfred Hitchcock or Craig Rice, were invited to solve it. Or maybe not -- nobody seems to know much about this one. David Kogan, the writer/creator of Murder by Experts, also created and wrote The Mysterious Traveler.

THIS EPISODE: June 13, 1949. Mutual network. "Summer Heat". Sustaining. A newly graduated lawyer awakes with a dead body in bed and has a very difficult time getting rid of that body! David Kogan (adaptor, director, producer), Phil Tonken (announcer), Bryna Raeburn, Ian Martin, Cameron Andrews, Andrew Evans (author), Emerson Buckley (conductor), John Dickson Carr (host), Lawson Zerbe, Richard Dupage (composer), Frank Behrens, William Zuckert, Robert A. Arthur (adaptor, director, producer). 29:39.

59. 2000 Plus - The Other Man (1950)
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The Other Man (1950)
The fifties are when science fiction on radio came of age. America was facing a different threat, nuclear in nature. Instead of looking to the stars and seeing monsters, it began to look to the stars and see possibilities. At the start of the decade, there were at least four series for adults plus several for children. The first adult science fiction series to make it to radio was 2000 Plus. At the same time were NBC's Dimension X and CBS' Beyond Tomorrow though it has never been determined if Beyond Tomorrow ever made it past the audition stage. Dimension X used stories mostly by the best of the science fiction writers of the day. Others in the series were by the scriptwriting team of George Lefferts and Ernest Kinoy. While 2000 Plus was the first, it was Dimension X that shined. With excellent scriptwriters adapting stories of excellent science fiction writers, this series stood above its competition. Van Woodward, the producer said "We went the adaptation route simply bcause that's where the best stories are. Bright ideas for science fiction tales don't come on order; they're usually the product of a moment's inspiration, by a writer who is steeped in the field."

60. Blondie - Alexander's Scandal Sheet (11-03-48)
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Description:

Alexander's Scandal Sheet (Aired November 3, 1948
Not many cartoon strips from the 30's are still popular, but Blondie is one of the few. Still widely read today, Blondie was also made into movies and of course, radio. Her beau, soon to be husband, Dagwood and her were an unlikely match. Dagwood actually came from money and his parents were displeased with his choice of girlfriend, but boldly defying them, he accepted being disowned and married Blondie anyway. In the beginning, Blondie was a flapper and portrayed as a bit of an airhead, but marriage seemed to mature her and she was actually the more levelheaded of the two, often getting Dagwood out of the messes he got himself into when he would cry out "BLONDIEEEEEEEE!!" Almost everyone could see a bit of themselves in the everyday lives of the Bumsteads and judging from the continued enjoyment of the characters, almost everyone still can. Truly a delightful show.

THIS EPISODE: November 3, 1948. "Alexander's Scandal Sheet" - Program #61. NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. Alexander decides to earn his own money, and starts a gossip newspaper. Arthur Lake, Penny Singleton, Hanley Stafford, Elvia Allman. 25:49.

61. Box 13 - Speed To Burn (06-26-49)
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Speed To Burn (Aired June 26, 1949)
The premise of the program was that Dan Holiday was an author who wrote mystery novels. To get ideas for his novels he placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything, Box 13." The ads always brought fun adventures of all kinds: from racketeer's victim to psychotic killer looking for fun. Most of the episodes were based on Dan Holiday replying to a letter he received at Box 13. He would generally solve a mystery in the process, and return to his office in time to enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of Suzy, his amusingly stupid secretary. He would certainly not meet the strictest requirements for private eyes (not licensed, collected no fees from clients), but the definition should stretch to sneak him in under the rope. It was heard over the Mutual Broadcasting System as well as being syndicated. The series was produced by Mayfair Productions. Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday. Sylvia Picker played Suzy, Dan Holiday's secretary and Edmond MacDonald as Lt. Kling. Other stars in the series were Betty Lou Gerson, Lurene Tuttle, Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, John Beal and Frank Lovejoy. Music was by Rudy Schrager and the writer was Russell Hughes. Announcer/Director was Vern Carstensen. The series was produced by Richard Sanville with Alan Ladd as co-producer.

THIS EPISODE: Box Thirteen. June 26, 1949. Program #45. Mutual network origination, Mayfair syndication. "Speed To Burn". Commercials added locally. Why shouldn't a 1938 jalopy with a British tank engine go one hundred miles per hour? Alan Ladd, Albert Wagner (adaptor), Bernard Feins (writer), Gerald Mohr, Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Sylvia Picker, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 26:56.

62. Crime Classics - The Good Ship Jane (02-24-54)
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The Good Ship Jane (Aired February 24, 1954)
Crime Classics was a U. S. radio docudrama which aired over CBS from June 15, 1953 to June 30, 1954. Created, produced, and directed by radio actor/director Elliott Lewis, the program was basically a historical true crime series, examining crimes, and especially murders, from the past. It grew out of Lewis's personal interest in famous murder cases, and took a documentary-like approach to the subject, carefully recreating the facts, personages, and feel of the time period. Comparatively little dramatic license was taken with the facts and events, but the tragedy was leavened with humor, expressed largely through the narration.

THIS EPISODE: February 24, 1954. CBS network. "The Good Ship Jane: Why She Became Flotsam". Sustaining. A well written story of piracy and murder. Lou Merrill (host), Gary Montgomery, Ben Wright, Steve Roberts, Bob Lemond (announcer), Herb Butterfield, Paul Frees, William Johnstone, Morton Fine (writer), David Friedkin (writer), Elliott Lewis (producer, director), Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor). 30:23.

63. Bold Venture - With Friends Like These (1952)
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With Friends Like These (1952)
The Hollywood husband and wife team of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall set sail for adventure in the Bold Venture radio series in early 1951. There were well over 400 stations that aired the program. Since thiswas syndicated * the starting date varied from station to station but Mar 26, 1951 was the official date of the first show. Humphrey Bogart portrayed Slate Shannon, owner of a rundown Havana hotel, Shannon's Place. The action took place on land as well aboard Slate's boat, The Bold Venture, thus the title of the series. Lauren Bacall was his ward Sailor Duval, a stubborn and flirtatious young woman whose late father had willed her to Slate for her protection. Together the duo found adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean.

THIS EPISODE: Program #55. ZIV Syndication. "With Friends Like These". Commercials added locally. Slate's friend Rudy Keijon was killed five years ago in New Orleans. However, Rudy is alive and well and in Havana...tied up by a beautiful woman. Slate is held at gunpoint. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Jester Hairston, David Rose (composer, conductor). 26:50.

64. Barry Craig Confidential Investigator - Ghosts Don't Die In Bed (09-07-54)
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Ghosts Don't Die In Bed (Aired September 7, 1954)
Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator is one of the few detective radio series that had separate versions of it broadcast from both coasts. Even the spelling changed over the years. It was first "Barry Crane" and then "Barrie Craig". NBC produced it in New York from 1951 to 1954 and then moved it to Hollywood where it aired from 1954 to 1955. It attracted only occasional sponsors so it was usually a sustainer.William Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye BARRY CRAIG while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a speciality."Like Sam Spade, Craig narrated his stories, in addition to being the leading character in this 30 minute show. Nearly sixty episodes are in trading circulation today.

THIS EPISODE: Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator. September 7, 1954. NBC network. "Ghosts Don't Die In Bed". Sustaining. A strange house on a stormy night, and a corpse in the library. The corpse is from an eighty year old murder! The last show of the season. William Gargan, Betty Lou Gerson, Virginia Gregg, Jack Moyles, Charlie Lung, Louis Vittes (writer), Arthur Jacobson (director), John Laing (announcer). 29:34.

65. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Cisco Kid" - Valley Of Killers (1955)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Westeren "The Cisco Kid" - Valley Of Killers (1955)
Broadcast constantly sometimes once a week sometimes 3 times a week By Mutual, between 1942 and 1956. Western Drama mainly for the young ones or maybe just the young at heart. I say the young at heart, because The Cisco Kid and his likeable but simple partner Pancho were a couple of lovable rogues and because there was usually a lovely senorita around in every episode who fell madly in love with Sisco, there may well have been an element of lady listeners included in the audience rating figures. Here they were, these two Mexican bandits, travelling from sunset to sunset (because that's where they always road off to at the end of each episode) robbing the rich, but I wouldn't say giving it to the poor. At least they did it in a kind and humorous way. It was more a question of the victim being relieved of the heavy burden of his or her riches, rather than having some of their prized possessions taken away from them. Half the fun in the series was listening to Pancho try to explain in his simple Mexican way that the sheriff's posse was hard on their heels and to quote him, "Ceesco, eef they catch up with us, perhaps they weel keel us." At the beginning The Cisco Kid was played by Jackson Beck then later Jack Mather took over the role. Whilst Pancho was played first by Louis Sorin then by Harry Lang. Originally the Announcer was Michael Rye and the Director Jock McGregor and during the days of Jack Mather and Harry Lang the Producer was J. C. Lewis with the series being written by Larry Hays.

66. Rocky Fortune - On The Trail Of A Killer (01-05-54)
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On The Trail Of A Killer (Aired January 5, 1954)
Rocky Fortune" about a wanderer that took odd jobs to support himself and never stayed in one place too long. He almost always seemed to meet beautiful women along with trouble. Sinatra was good and was proving to Hollywood that he could do serious work. When casting began for the movie "From Here To Eternity", Frank campaigned tirelessly for a part and because of that and a good word put in for him by Gardner, who he was now separated from, he won a part that would mark his return to Hollywood. Sadly for us, it also meant he didn't have time to do radio and "Rocky Fortune" was rather short lived, although it was popular. It only ran from 1953 - 1954, but" It was a very good year".

THIS EPISODE: January 5, 1954. NBC network. - "On The Trail Of A Killer". Sustaining. Frank's good friend Ellie is, "fat, forty and frustrated." She marries a no-goodnik and is soon murdered. Rocky takes out in hot pursuit and nearly rides the rails...with his ticket punched with a bullet, "from here to eternity." Frank Sinatra, Paula Victor, Tom McKee, John Sutton, Barney Phillips, Jay Loft Lynn, Maurice Hart, Norm Sickle (writer), Andrew C. Love (director). 24:43.

67. Lights Out - The Visitor From Hades (07-13-43)
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The Visitor From Hades (Aired July 13, 1943)
Lights Out, featuring "tales of the supernatural and the supernormal", was created in Chicago by writer Wyllis Cooper in 1934, and the first series of shows (each 15 minutes long) ran on a local NBC station, WENR. By April 1934, the series was expanded to a half hour in length and moved to midnight Wednesdays. In January 1935, the show was discontinued in order to ease Cooper's workload (he was then writing scripts for the network's prestigious Immortal Dramas program), but was brought back by huge popular demand a few weeks later. After a successful tryout in New York City, the series was picked up by NBC in April 1935 and broadcast nationally, usually late at night and always on Wednesdays. Cooper stayed on the program until June 1936, when another Chicago writer, Arch Oboler, took over. By the time Cooper left, the series had inspired about 600 fan clubs. Cooper's run was characterized by grisly stories spiked with dark, tongue-in-cheek humor, a sort of radio Grand Guignol. A character might be buried or eaten or skinned alive, vaporized in a ladle of white-hot steel, absorbed by a giant slurping amoeba, have his arm torn off by a robot, tortured or decapitated -- always with the appropriate blood-curdling acting and sound effects.

THIS EPISODE: July 13, 1943. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Visitor From Hades". One day, the devil calmly walks in and sits down in the living room...to watch. The program name is also known as, "Arch Oboler's Plays." Arch Oboler (writer, host), Lurene Tuttle. 23:33.

68. Casey Crime Photographer - Miscarriage Of Justice (10-02-47)
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Miscarriage Of Justice (Aired October 2, 1947)
The Adventures Of Casey, Crime Photographer for The Morning Express, were told in this series, which moved to television after a highly successful run on radio in the 1940’s. Casey hung out at the Blue Note Café, where the music was provided by the Tony Mottola Trio, and was friendly with Ethelbert, the bartender, to whom he recounted his various exploits. Richard Carlyle and John Gibson portrayed the roles when the series premiered in April, 1951, but by June they were replaced by Darren McGavin and Cliff Hall. Ann Williams, a reporter on The Morning Express, was Casey’s girlfriend. During the summer of 1951 he acquired a partner in cub reporter Jack Lipman, who wrote copy to go with Casey’s pictures. This live series was set in and broadcast from, New York City.

THIS EPISODE: October 2, 1947. CBS network. "Miscarriage Of Justice". Sponsored by: Anchor Hocking Glass. A woman has been murdered twice? How can the killer be tried again after being freed the first time? Alonzo Deen Cole (writer), Archie Bleyer (music), Herman Chittison (piano), Jan Miner, Joe DeSantis, John Dietz (director), John Gibson, Santos Ortega, Staats Cotsworth, Tony Marvin (announcer), George Harmon Coxe (creator). 29:55.

69. Bulldog Drummond - The Fatal Right (10-14-46)
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The Fatal Right (Aired October 14, 1946)
Bulldog Drummond has come to wreak havoc on unsuspecting killers, counterfeiters, and underworld characters. The opening of the show starts with a the sounds of footsteps, foghorn, then two shots ring out, followed by three blows of a police officer's whistle. Bulldog, who's really name is Hugh (played by George Coulouris), was a methodical crime-solving sleuth who let nothing get in his way of his goal, which was to put a stop to crime! Bulldog believed in uncomplicated and decisive means of getting his way with the lords of the underworld. This usually led to their swift capture, and the easing of the city's burden brought about by these ruthless thugs.

THIS EPISODE: October 14, 1946. Mutual network. "The Case Of The Fatal Right". Sponsored by: Tums, N-R Tablets. Captain Drummond gets involved with a prize-fighter who gets murdered in the ring, poisoned by cyanide! Next week's story: "Thunder On The Range." Ned Wever. 29:54.

70. Big Town - Murder In The Snow (02-01-49)
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Murder In The Snow (Aired February 1, 1949)
Big Town is a radio show that aired from 1937 to 1952. Edward G. Robinson had the lead role of Steve Wilson from 1937 to 1942. Claire Trevor was Wilson's society editor sidekick Lorelei Kilbourne, with Ona Munson taking over that role in 1940. Edward J. Pawley portrayed Wilson from 1942 until 1952 when Walter Greaza was heard as Wilson in the final episodes in the radio series. When Big Town moved to television, the program was telecast live, but in 1952 the production switched to film after the move from New York City to Hollywood. The television series ran on CBS from 1950 through 1954, continuing on NBC from 1955 through 1956. Repeat episodes aired on the DuMont Network (under the title City Assignment) while Big Town was still showing first-run episodes on CBS. Reruns were also shown under the titles Heart of the City, Headline and Byline Steve Wilson.

THIS EPISODE: February 1, 1949. NBC network. "Murder In The Snow". Sponsored by: Lifebuoy Snow, Rinso. Screen star Linda Lane is going to tell the grand jury what she knows about the narcotics business in Big Town. Steve Wilson and his friends battle a snow storm to reach a train...but arrive too late! Edward Pawley, Fran Carlon, Jerry McGill (writer, producer), Dwight Weist (narrator). 29:29.

71. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Six Shooter" - Cheyenne Express (03-07-54)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Six Shooter" - Cheyenne Express (03-07-54)
The Six Shooter brought James Stewart to the NBC microphone on September 20, 1953, in a fine series of folksy Western adventures. Stewart was never better on the air than in this drama of Britt Ponset, frontier drifter created by Frank Burt. The epigraph set it up nicely: "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged: his skin is sun dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl. People call them both The Six Shooter." Ponset was a wanderer, an easy-going gentleman and -- when he had to be -- a gunfighter. Stewart was right in character as the slow-talking maverick who usually blundered into other people's troubles and sometimes shot his way out. His experiences were broad, but The Six Shooter leaned more to comedy than other shows of its kind. Ponset took time out to play Hamlet with a crude road company. He ran for mayor and sheriff of the same town at the same time. He became involved in a delighful Western version of Cinderella, complete with grouchy stepmother, ugly sisters, and a shoe that didn't fit. And at Christmas he told a young runaway the story of A Christmas Carol, Substituting the original Dickens characters with Western heavies. Britt even had time to fall in love, but it was the age-old story of people from different worlds, and the romance was foredoomed despite their valiant efforts to save it. So we got a cowboy-into-the-sunset ending for this series, truly one of the bright spots of radio. Unfortunately, it came too late, and lasted only one season. It was a transcribed show, sustained by NBC and directed by Jack Johnstone. Basil Adlam provided the music and Frank Burt wrote the scripts. Hal Gibney announced.

THIS EPISODE: March 7, 1954. NBC network. "Cheyenne Express" - Sustaining. Wilbur English, the man who shot Floyd Winters, needs protection from Winters' brother. Jimmy Stewart, Basil Adlam (music), Frank Burt (creator, writer), Jack Johnstone (director), John Wald (announcer), Herb Vigran, Frank Gerstle, Paul Richards, Barney Phillips. 29:33.

72. Dimension X - Universe (08-02-51)
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Universe (Aired August 2, 1951)
Dimension X was first heard on NBC April 8, 1950, and ran until September 29, 1951. Strange that so little good science fiction came out of radio; they seem ideally compatible, both relying heavily on imagination. Some fine isolated science fiction stories were developed on the great anthology shows, Suspense and Escape. But until the premiere of Dimension X -- a full two decades after network radio was established -- there were no major science fiction series of broad appeal to adults. This show dramatized the work of such young writers as Ray Bradbury, Robert (Psycho) Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Kurt Vonnegut. In-house script writer was Ernest Kinoy, who adapted the master works and contributed occasional storied of his own. Dimension X was a very effective demonstration of what could be done with science fiction on the air.

THIS EPISODE: August 2, 1951. NBC network. "Universe". Sustaining. "The ship is all" to a group of interstellar travelers. The script was previously used on "Dimension X" on November 26, 1950 and subsequently on May 15, 1955. The program was rebroadcast on "Monitor" during April, 1975. Albert Buhrman (music), Bill Chambers (engineer), Edward King (director), George Lefferts (adaptor), Manny Segal (sound effects), Mason Adams, Max Russell (sound effects), Norman Rose (host), Peter Capell, Robert Heinlein (author), Wes Conant (sound effects), William Welch (producer), Fred Collins (announcer). 29:26.

73. The Burns & Allen Show - Guest Bob Burns (02-23-43)
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Guest Bob Burns (Aired February 23, 1943)
Burns and Allen are one of the most beloved couple in old time radio. They got started, like many of the greats of old time radio, in vaudeville, which is really just the touring popular entertainment in America prior to movies. Gracie was the sparkplug of the act, always the center of attention. George played the foil, the guy vainly trying to make sense of the ditzy world of Gracie. By the early 30s, Gracie was probably the best known woman on radio. Gracie often sang in a voice that showed she was also an excellent comedienne songstress. The shows had names after the sponsors, such as Maxwell House Coffee Time, or The Ammident Show - it was the Burns and Allen show to the public. Other fine radio actors were a part of the fun. Mel Blanc did the happy postman, and was also famous for his zany characters on The Jack Benny Show, and his own Mel Blanc Show. Elliott Lewis, a veteran of many radio dramas, played many of the bit parts on the Burns and Allen shows of the 40s. Burns & Allen were touring England in 1929 when they made their first radio appearance on the BBC. Gracie Allen died on August 27, 1964. George Burns died on March 9, 1996. First Broadcast date february 15th 1932. Last Broadcast date may 17th 1950.

THIS EPISODE: February 23, 1943. CBS network. Sponsored by: Swan Soap. George and Gracie are preparing to leave town on a New York U. S. O. tour. Zelda Swinely wants to marry "Guest Bob Burns" (she sounds just like Judy Canova). Gracie announces that she's going to appear at Carnegie Hall while in New York. George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bill Goodwin, Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, Jimmy Cash, Six Hits and A Miss, Bob Burns, Clarence Nash, Mel Blanc, Judy Canova (?). 28:50.

74. The Diary of Fate - Rollie Andrews (08-03-48)
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Rollie Andrews (August 3, 1948)
Diary of Fate is a mystery and horror program where “Fate” narrates and always wins by the end of the story. These are great suspense filled stories about average people who are subject to the mysteries of their ‘Fate’. In This episode,August 3, 1948. Program #34. Finley syndication. "Rollie Andrews". Commercials added locally. Book 74, page 659. An archeologist choses riches and evil with "fabulous jewels." The date is subject to correction. Herb Lytton, Tom Brown, Cynthia Corley, William Johnstone, Lou Krugman, Gene Twombley, Ray Ehrlenborn, Hal Sawyer, Larry Finley (producer). 26:41.

75. The Hall Of Fantasy - The Shadow People (09-21-53)
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The Shadow People (Aired September 21, 1953)
There were four series under the HALL OF FANTASY banner, all produced by Richard Thorne. The first HALL OF FANTASY originated from radio station KALL in Salt Lake City, Utah. Richard Thorne and Carl Greyson were announcers for the station and produced the rather barebones shows, possibly late in 1946 and into 1947. Broadcast dates for the shows are not certain. The shows were written or adapted by Robert Olson and directed by Mr. Thorne. Most were classic murder mysteries with traditional endings; the evil-doer got his just rewards. The series was sponsored by the Granite Furniture Company, although existing shows are missing the commercials, apparently because they were inserted live.

THIS EPISODE: September 21, 1953. Mutual network, WGN, Chicago origination. "The Shadow People". Sustaining. A well-done story of those who are never seen but are always there. The announcements have possibly been deleted. This program has also been dated September 5, 1952. J. Sheridan LeFanu (author). 25 minutes.

76. The Adventures Of Frank Race - Embittered Secretary (08-07-49)
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Embittered Secretary (Aired August 7, 1949)
The Adventures of Frank Race, by Bruce Ells Productions, was first heard in May of 1949. The main character, Frank Race, was an attorney before World War II. As a result of his activities in the war, when it was over, he traded his law books for a career with the OSS. There, "Adventure" became his business. Tom Collins played the role of Frank Race initially, immediately following his stint as Chandu, The Magician. The lead role was taken over later by Paul Dubof.

THIS EPISODE: August 7, 1949. Program #15. Broadcasters Program Syndicate syndication. "The Adventure Of The Embittered Secretary". Commercials added locally. A tough gangster thinks Race has his $50,000. Needless to say, he'd like it returned. Tom Collins, Tony Barrett, Buckley Angel (writer, director), Joel Murcott (writer, director), Bruce Eells (producer), Ivan Ditmars (organist), Art Gilmore (announcer). 1/2 hour.

77. The Adventures Of Archie Andrews - The Economy Program (06-03-51)
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The Economy Program (Aired June 3, 1951)
Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, a long-run radio series, a syndicated comic strip and animation -- The Archie Show, a Saturday morning cartoon television series by Filmation, plus Archie's Weird Mysteries. Archie Andrews began on the Blue Network on May 31, 1943, switched to Mutual in 1944, and then continued on NBC from 1945 until September 5 1953. Archie was first played by Charles Mullen, Jack Grimes and Burt Boyar, with Bob Hastings as the title character during the NBC years.The sponsor was Swift Products. The Cast: Harlan Stone, Alice Yourman, Arthur Kohl, Gloria Mann, Rosemary Rice.

THIS EPISODE: June 3, 1951. "The Economy Program" NBC network. Sustaining. Mr. Andrews is cracking down on spending. Too, too many bills, not enough money? Bob Hastings, Harlan Stone, Alice Yourman, Ian Martin, Gloria Mann, Rosemary Rice. 1/2 hour.

78. The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet - Card Tricks (01-23-49)
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Card Tricks (Aired January 23, 1949)
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched on CBS October 8, 1944, making a mid-season switch to NBC in 1949. The final years of the radio series were on ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from October 14, 1949, to June 18, 1954. In an arrangement that amplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television (as George Burns once phrased it), the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network itself the right to move the show to television whenever it wanted to do it---they wanted, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, to have talent in the bullpen and ready to pitch, so to say, on their own network, rather than risk it defecting to CBS (where the Nelsons began) or NBC.

THIS EPISODE: January 23, 1949. NBC network. Sponsored by: International Silver. Ozzie has become a master (?) of Card Tricks, and a lady killer too. Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard. 1/2 hour.

79. The Adventures Of Philip Marlowe - The Bid For Freedom (01-21-50)
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The Bid For Freedom (Aired January 21, 1950)
The first portrayal of Phillip Marlowe on the radio was by Dick Powell, when he played Raymond Chandler's detective on the Lux Radio Theater on June 11, 1945. This was a radio adaptation of the 1944 movie, from RKO, in which Mr. Powell played the lead. Two years later, Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in a summer replacement series for the Bob Hope Show on NBC. This series ran for 13 shows. On September 26, 1948, Gerald Mohr became the third radio Marlowe, this time on CBS. It remained a CBS show through its last show in 1951.

THIS EPISODE: January 21, 1950. CBS network. "The Bid For Freedom". Sustaining. A mad woman escapes from an asylum and leads Marlowe on a trail of murder. Gene Levitt (writer), Gerald Mohr, Harold Dryanforth, Jack Edwards, Jeanne Bates, John T. Smith, Lawrence Dobkin, Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Raymond Chandler (creator), Richard Aurandt (music), Robert Mitchell (writer), Roy Rowan (announcer), Yvonne Peattie. 29:59.

80. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Lone Ranger" - The Sheepskin (09-15-55)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Lone Ranger" - The Sheepskin (Aired September 15, 1955)
The Lone Ranger was a long-running early radio and television show based on characters created by George W. Trendle, and developed by writer Fran Striker. The titular character is a masked cowboy in the American Old West, who gallops about righting injustices, usually with the aid of a clever and laconic American Indian called Tonto, and his horse Silver. He would famously say "Heigh-ho Silver, away!" to get the horse to gallop. The first of 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger premiered on radio January 30, 1933 on WXYZ radio in Detroit, Michigan and later on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network and then on NBC's Blue Network (which became ABC, which broadcast the show's last new episode on September 3, 1954). Elements of the Lone Ranger story were first used in an earlier series Fran Striker wrote for a station in Buffalo, New York.

81. Inner Sanctum Mysteries - Terror By Night (09-18-45)
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Terror By Night (Aired September 18, 1945)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries was a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952. Created by Himan Brown, the anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense. The tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. A total of 526 episodes are known to have been produced. The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreaaaaammmmssss!" His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, from fellow radio hosts like Ernest Chappell (on Cooper's later series, Quiet, Please) and Maurice Tarplin (on The Mysterious Traveler) to EC Comics' Crypt-Keeper in various incarnations of Tales from the Crypt.

THIS EPISODE: June 29, 1952. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "Terror By Night". A mad killer is on the prowl, and there's a dead body in the trunk. This is a good shocker with surprise ending. The script was previously used on "Inner Sanctum" on September 18, 1945. Agnes Moorehead, Karl Swenson, Everett Sloane, Paul McGrath (host). 23 minutes.

82. Boston Blackie - The Apartment Swindler (09-17-46)
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The Apartment Swindler (Aired September 17, 1946)
Boston Blackie was portrayed in silent films by Bert Lytell, Lionel Barrymore, David Powell, William Russell, Forest Stanley and Raymond Glenn before Chester Morris made the role his own in 14 Columbia films and in a 1944 NBC summer replacement series (with Richard Lane reprising his screen role as Inspector Farraday). Following Chester Morris' summer series, Richard Kollmar starred as Blackie (with Maurice Tarplin as Farraday and Lesley Woods and Jan Miner as Mary Wesley) in a syndicated series that aired from April 11, 1945 through September 25, 1950. Kent Taylor later portrayed Boston Blackie in a 1951-53 television series.

THIS EPISODE: September 17, 1946. "The Apartment Swindler" - Program #75. ABC network origination, Ziv syndication. Commercials added locally. The leader of a gang that is swindling people who are desperate to get an apartment is found murdered. Don't believe the mphotograph on the desk! Richard Kollmar. 28:11.

83. The Life Of Riley - Valentine's Locket (02-18-49)
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Valentine's Locket (Aired February 18, 1949)
The radio program starring William Bendix aired on the ABC Blue Network from January 16, 1944 to June 8, 1945. Then it moved to NBC, where it was broadcast from September 8, 1945 to June 29, 1951. The supporting cast featured John Brown, who portrayed not only undertaker Digger O'Dell but also Riley's co-worker Gillis. Whereas Gillis gave Riley bad information that got him into trouble, Digger gave him good information that "helped him out of a hole," as he might have put it. Brown's lines as the undertaker were often repetitive, including puns based on his profession; but, thanks to Brown's delivery, the audience loved him. The series was co-developed by the non-performing Marx Brother, Gummo.

THIS EPISODE: February 18, 1949. "Valentine's Locket" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Prell, Ivory Snow. A Valentines Day story. A locket from Rileys boss has Riley's name in it. William Bendix, Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Ken Niles (announcer), Irving Brecher (producer), Reuben Ship (writer), Alan Lipscott (writer), Dick Powell (writer). 29:44.

84. Chandu The Magician - 2 Episodes (07-22-48) (07-23-48)
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Episode19 "The Statue's Secret" (07-22-48) and Episode 20 "Exorcism" (07-23-48)
One of the longest running juvenile adventure serials on radio, CHANDU, THE MAGICIAN was heard as a local program beginning in 1931 on KHJ in Los Angeles until 1932. It was then heard, starting in February 1932, over WOR in the East. Nationally, it aired over MUTUAL starting 10/08/32 with Gayne Whitman in the title role, it was sponsored by White King Soap on the West Coast and Beech Nut on the East Coast. Howard Hoffman also took over the lead role for a period of time. Many scripts were later redone in a new series with Tom Collins in the title role beginning 06/28/48 again as a 15 minute program. This new series lasted 154 episodes ending on 01/28/49. The following week, on 02/03/49, the broadcasts were expanded to a full 30 minutes each, and each script was a self contained story line instead of a serial, but this time heard over only over the MUTUAL DON LEE network. Starting on 11/19/49 and running until 09/06/50, programs were heard over ABC.

TODAY'S SHOW: July 22, 1948. Program #19. Mutual-Don Lee network. Sponsored by: White King Soap. Chandu and Dorothy plan to return to the tunnel of evil. Vera Oldham (writer), Korla Pandit (music), Howard Culver (announcer), Tom Collins, Joy Terry, Norman Field. 15 minutes.

July 23, 1948. Program #20. Mutual-Don Lee network. Sponsored by: White King Soap. Chandu frees Dorothy from the spell and breaks free from a trap set for him. Vera Oldham (writer), Korla Pandit (music), Howard Culver (announcer), Tom Collins, Joy Terry, Norman Field. 15 minutes.

85. In The Name Of The Law - Murdered Husband (07-12-36)
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Murdered Husband (Aired July 12, 1936)
In the Name of the Law was a True Crime radio show from 1936. It says "In the name of the law, we bring you another of the thrilling stories in this exciting series, taken from actual police case files. "In the name of the Law, we bring you another of the thrilling stories in this exciting series, taken from actual police case files."Two home invaders pick the wrong house and force the home owner (John Snyder) to take them to the targeted neighbors, two elderly brothers who were rumored to have cash and bonds. During the hold up, one of the brothers was shot to death. An angry town insisted on immediate results. The State Police joined the local Sherif and the search was on.

THIS EPISODE: July 12, 1936. Syndicated. Commercials added locally. A man stricken with polio suddenly dies in his kitchen. The sheriff uses the clue of a 1928 Chevrolet with a bad windshield wiper to solve the puzzle. 24:26.

86. David Harding Counterspy - Murdered Confessor (04-27-50)
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Murdered Confessor (Aired April 27, 1950)
Counterspy was an espionage drama radio series that aired on ABC and Mutual from May 18, 1942 to November 29, 1957. David Harding (Don MacLaughlin) was the chief of the United States Counterspies, a unit engaged during World War II in counterespionage against Japan's Black Dragon and Germany's Gestapo. With spies still lurking in the post-war years, the adventures continued apace well after World War II ended.

THIS EPISODE: April 27, 1950. ABC network. "The Murdered Confessor". Sponsored by: Pepsi Cola. A defector is shot at the airport, despite the efforts of seven counterspies to protect him! The killers must be found. The system cue has been deleted. Don MacLaughlin, Mandel Kramer, Jay Jackson (announcer), Jesse Crawford (organist), Marx B. Loeb (director), Bud Fishell (writer), Phillips H. Lord (producer). 29:51.

87. The Hallmark Playhouse - The Long Winter (03-15-51)
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The Long Winter (Aired March 15, 1951)
The Hallmark Playhouse was heard over CBS stations Thursday evenings. This drama anthology of 30-minute shows was sponsored by, of course, Hallmark Greeting Cards. It was preceded by the RADIO READER'S DIGEST, which ran from September 13, 1942 thorugh June 3, 1948. Hallmark sponsored the RADIO READER'S DIGEST from January 13, 1946 to it's end. On Feb. 8, 1953, the series name and format was changed. It was now called THE HALLMARK HALL OF FAME and presented biographal sketches of famous persons, past and present. The new format was used until the end of the 1955 season. The exception to the new format was the broadcast each Christmas season of "A Christmas Carol". Like other dramatic series of this time, this one made use of major screen actors in the productions. James Hilton, author of "Random Harvest", "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" plus others, served as host and Narrator. Dee Engelbach produced and directed the shows. Jean Holloway was the writer. Sound Effects were by Harry Essman and Gene Twombly. Musical conductor was Lyn Murray. The show's theme was "Dream of Olwne" by Charles Williams.

THIS EPISODE: March 15, 1951. "The Long Winter" is a Newbery Honor novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, first published in 1940. The story is set in South Dakota during the severe winter of 1880-1881, when Laura turned fourteen. It is the sixth book in the Little House series. The story begins in Dakota Territory at the Ingalls homestead in South Dakota on a hot August day in 1880 as Laura and her father ("Pa") are haying. Pa tells Laura that he knows the winter is going to be hard because muskrats always build a house with thick walls before a hard winter, and this year, they have built the thickest walls he has ever seen. In mid-October, the Ingallses wake with an unusually early blizzard howling around their poorly insulated claim shanty. Soon afterward, Pa receives another warning from an unexpected source: a dignified old Native American man comes to the general store in town to warn the white settlers that there will be seven months of blizzards. Impressed, Pa decides to move the family into town for the winter.

88. Duffy's Tavern - Hawaiian Vacation (12-28-51)
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Hawaiian Vacation (Aired December 28, 1951)
Duffy's Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of the title establishment's malaprop-prone, metaphor-mixing manager, Archie, played by the writer/actor who co-created the show, Ed Gardner. In the show's familiar opening, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," either solo on an old-sounding piano or by a larger orchestra, was interrupted by the ring of a telephone and Gardner's New Yorkese accent as he answered, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy ain't here — oh, hello, Duffy." Duffy, the owner, was never heard (or seen, when a film based on the show was made in 1945 or when a bid to bring the show to television was tried in 1954). But Archie always was — bantering with Duffy's man-crazy daughter, Miss Duffy (played by several actresses, beginning with Gardner's real-life first wife, Shirley Booth); with Eddie, the waiter/janitor (Eddie Green); and, especially, with Clifton Finnegan (Charlie Cantor), a likeable soul with several screws loose and a knack for falling for every other salesman's scam.

THIS EPISODE: December 28, 1951. "Hawaiian Vacation" - NBC network. Sponsored by: RCA Victor, Anacin. Archie has entered a slogan contest and he's sure that he's won a trip to Hawaii. "Fats" plays a hot, "Sweet Leilani" on the piano. After he wins the contest, Archie discovers that it was for entries by children under 13-years-old only. The system cue has been deleted. Ed Gardner (performer, producer as "Edward F. Gardner"), Ed Pinchon, Charlie Cantor, Larry Rhine (writer), Hazel Shermet. 29:17.

89. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Town" - The Chase (05-22-53)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Town" - The Chase (Aired May 22, 1953)
Chad Remington, played by Jeff Chandler for the first 23 shows, was a two fisted lawyer in the town of Dos Rios. Chad's sidekick, Cherokee O'Bannon, played by Wade Crosby, who performed his role in a WC Fields dialect. Mr. Chandler remained in the lead role for the first 23 shows and was replaced by Reed Hadley who played Remington until the end of the series. FRONTIER TOWN was a syndicated Western that ran through the 1952-1953 season.

THIS EPISODE: May 22, 1953. Program #31. Broadcasters Program Syndicate/Bruce Eells and Associates syndication. "The Chase". Music fill for local commercial insert. A dying con draws a map to $80,000.00 in stolen money. Everybody wants part of the loot. The date is approximate. Reed Hadley, Howard McNear, Wade Crosby, Ivan Ditmars (composer, conductor), Bill Forman (announcer), Bruce Eells (producer), Paul Franklin (writer, director). 28:37.

90. The Creaking Door - The Informer (1940)
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The Informer (1940)
The Creaking Door was an old-time radio series of horror and suspense shows originating in South Africa. There are at present anywhere from 34-37 extant episodes in MP3 circulation, yet no currently available program logs for the series indicate the year of the series' broadcast (though it was likely sometime in the 1950s, given the generally high audio quality of the available shows), or the total number of episodes, and only a handful of them are known by their broadcast order. The stories are thrillers in the Inner Sanctum vein, and generally thought of favorably by most fans of Old Time Radio.

91. The Black Museum - A Shilling (1952)
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A Shilling (1952)
Opening in 1875, the Crime Museum at Scotland Yard is the oldest museum in the world purely for recording crime. The name Black Museum was coined in 1877 by a reporter from The Observer, a London newspaper, although the museum is still referred to as the Crime Museum. The idea of a crime museum was conceived by Inspector Neame who had already collected together a number of items, with the intention of giving police officers practical instruction on how to detect and prevent burglary. It is this museum that inspired the Black Musuem radio series. The museum is not open to members of the public but is now used as a lecture theatre for the curator to lecture police and like bodies in subjects such as Forensic Science, Pathology, Law and Investigative Techniques. A number of famous people have visited the musuem including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Orsen Welles hosted and narrated the shows. Following the opening, Mr. Welles would introduce the museum's item of evidence that was central to the case, leading into the dramatization. He also provided narration during the show and ended each show with his characteristic closing from the days of his Mercury Theater on the Air, 'remaining obediently yours'.

THIS EPISODE: 1952. Syndicated. "The Shilling". Commercials added locally. Joey Bart gets out of prison and visits his brother to get his nightclub back. When Dave Bart is found murdered, a coin paves the way to the gallows! The date is approximate. Orson Welles (narrator), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Ira Marion (writer), Sidney Torch (composer, conductor). 25:59.

92. The Couple Next Door - 2 Episodes (03-20-58) (03-21-58)
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"The Dentist Bill" (03-20-58) and "The Claytons Come To See The House " (03-21-58)
The Couple Next Door was a Peg Lynch series which began in 1953-57 on Chicago's WGN, moving to the Mutual Broadcasting System in the summer of 1957. The married couple was played by Olan Soule and Elinor Harriot. It was revived on CBS Radio (December 30, 1957-November 25, 1960) with Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce as the unnamed married couple---essentially, it reprised Ethel and Albert but the new name was necessitated because Lynch had long since lost the rights to the original title. That still wasn't the end of the show---Lynch and Bunce brought the show to NBC's legendary weekend programming block Monitor in 1963, performing three- to four-minute vignettes not unlike the original fifteen-minute shows. Their presence continued a kind-of Monitor tradition of offering new material from classic radio favourites (including James and Marian Jordan of Fibber McGee and Molly fame, until Marian Jordan's death). Even more, it returned yet again in the 1970s, as a syndicated radio feature known as The Little Things in Life.

93. The Avenger - Coins Of Death (11-22-45)
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Coins Of Death (Aired November 22, 1945)
The Avenger is an Old Time Radio show aired by the South African Broadcasting System in the 1940s. It featured a biochemist crime-fighter by the name of Jim Brandon. Mr. Brandon had two inventions which assisted him in the fight against crime. Mr. Brandon was able to pick up telpathic thought flashes and had a diffusion capsule which allowed him to become invisible.

THIS EPISODE: November 22, 1945. Program #5. Michelson syndication. "The Coins Of Death". Music fill for local commercial insert. Gilbert Braun (writer), James Monks, Helen Adamson, Ruth Braun (writer), Alyn Edwards (announcer), Doc Whipple (organist), Charles Michelson (producer), Walter Gibson (writer). 1/2 hour.

94. The Fred Allen Show - Hillbilly Drama (02-24-46)
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Hillbilly Drama (Aired February 24, 1946)
Fred Allen's first taste of radio came while he and Portland Hoffa waited for a promised slot in a new Arthur Hammerstein musical. In the interim, they appeared on a Chicago station's program, WLS Showboat, into which, Allen recalled, "Portland and I were presented... to inject a little class into it." Their success in these appearances helped their theater reception; live audiences in the Midwest liked to see their radio favorites in person, even if Allen and Hoffa would be replaced by Bob Hope when the radio show moved to New York several months afterward. The couple eventually got their Hammerstein show, Polly, which opened in Delaware and made the usual tour before hitting Broadway. Also in that cast was a young Englishman named Archie Leach, who received as many good notices for his romantic appeal as Allen got for his comic work. Hammerstein retooled the show before bringing it to New York, replacing everyone but two women and Allen. Leach decided to buy an old car and drive to Hollywood. "What Archie Leach didn't tell me," Allen remembered, "was that he was going to change his name to Cary Grant." Polly never succeeded in spite of several retoolings, but Allen did go on to successful shows like The Little Show (1929-30) and Three's a Crowd (1930-31), which eventually led to his full-time entry to radio in 1932.

THIS EPISODE: February 24, 1946. "Hillbilly Drama" - NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. Allen's Alley Question: "Do you believe in hobbies and if so, do you have one?" Fred and guest Arthur Treacher do a hillbily play. Music fill by The De Marco Sisters. Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Kenny Delmar, Parker Fennelly, Alan Reed, Minerva Pious, The De Marco Sisters, Al Goodman and His Orchestra, Arthur Treacher. 24:51.

95. Lux Radio Theater - The Front Page (06-28-37)
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The Front Page (Aired June 28, 1937)
In October of 1934, "Lux Radio Theater" debuted in New York on NBC's Blue radio network. Presenting audio versions of popular Broadway plays, the show failed to garner an audience and soon ran out of material. After switching networks to CBS and moving to Hollywood, Lux found its true market. The show began featuring adaptations of popular films, performed by as many of the original stars as possible. With an endless supply of hit films scripts and an audience of more than 40 million, Lux enjoyed a prosperous run until the curtain fell in 1956.

THIS EPISODE: June 28, 1937. CBS network. "The Front Page". Sponsored by: Lux. The well known comedy about the newspaper game and the escaped killer hiding in the roll-top desk. Amelia Earhart's appearance is announced as being postponed. The final half minute has been deleted from the closing, the story is unaffected. The female lead was scheduled to be Joan Bennett, but she could not appear due to illness and Josephine Hutchinson was substituted. Walter Winchell, Josephine Hutchinson, James Gleason, Ben Hecht (author), Bud McTaggart, Cecil B. DeMille, Charles MacArthur (author), Eddie Waller, Edward Marr, Frank Nelson (doubles, program opening announcer), Frank Sheridan, Georgia Kane, John Butler, Lou Merrill, Louis Silvers (music director), Matt Mohr, Melville Ruick (announcer), Rolfe Sedan, Ross Forrester, Sidney Lewis, Sidney Newman (doubles), Victor Rodman, John MacSoud (intermission guest: fabric expert for films), Kathleen Howard (intermission guest: fashion editor for Photoplay magazine), Bud McTaggert, Grace Kerns (commercial spokesman), Emily Williams (commercial spokesman), James Eagles (commercial spokesman), Frank Woodruff (director), George Wells (adaptor), Charlie Forsyth (sound effects). 58:59.

96. The Amazing Mister Malone - A Strong Offense (05-25-51)
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A Strong Offense (Aired May 25, 1951)
Based on Craig Rice’s (a female crime novelist who rivaled Agatha Christie in book sales) novels of crime drama, Frank Lovejoy (and later Gene Raymond and George Petrie) plays “fiction’s most famous criminal lawyer,” John J. Malone. Mr. Malone is our amazing hero, a Chicago lawyer whose bar is more famous than Cheers. His hobby is collecting clichés, and each weeks show is based off of one: cleanliness is next to Godliness, a strong offense is the best defense, seek and ye shall find, and so on. Stories are gripping, from tales of Chicago’s biggest operator who runs a nightclub and his right hand man, to a man looking for trouble in a hotel and finds it in room 419, to a story of a man who owns the most luscious gambling joint this side of Vegas. So brush up on your one liners, and grab your gun, because you’ll want to tune in for this exciting half hour of mystery!

THIS EPISODE: May 25, 1951. NBC network. "A Strong Offense Is The Best Defense". Sustaining. Willard Grant has been shot and killed, shortly after being threatened by Steve Kemper for romancing his daughter. The series is based on a character created by Craig Rice. The adventures of a Chicago detective-lawyer. George Petrie, Craig Rice (creator), Arthur Gary (announcer), Eugene Wang (writer), Richard Lewis (director), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Larry Haines. 29:32.

97. The Whistler - Meet Mr. Death (04-23-45)
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Meet Mr. Death (Aired April 23, 1945)
The Whistler was one of radio's most popular mystery dramas, with a 13-year run from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. If it now seems to have been influenced explicitly by The Shadow, The Whistler was no less popular or credible with its listeners, the writing was first class for its genre, and it added a slightly macabre element of humor that sometimes went missing in The Shadow's longer-lived crime stories. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series' fame, over 200 episodes are lost today. In 1946, a local Chicago version of The Whistler with local actors aired Sundays on WBBM, sponsored by Meister Brau beer.

THIS EPISODE: April 23, 1945. CBS Pacific network. "Meet Mr. Death". Sponsored by: Signal Oil. A pharmacist is offered $5000 to poison a newspaper man. Needing the money and tempted take the offer, he finds out that he might have been overheard. A better-than-usual production. Harold Swanton (writer), George W. Allen (director), Wilbur Hatch (music), Marvin Miller (announcer), Howard Duff (?), Ken Christy. 29:39.

98. Dark Fantasy - Rendezvous With Satan (05-29-42)
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Rendezvous With Satan (Aired May 29, 1942)
Dark Fantasy was an series dedicated to dealings with the unknown. Originating from radio station WKY, Oklahoma City, it was written by Scott Bishop (of Mysterious Traveler and The Sealed Book fame) and was heard Fridays over stations. Keith Paynton served as announcer. The shows covered horror, science fiction and murder mysteries. Although a short series, the shows are excellent with some stories way ahead of their time.

THIS EPISODE: May 29, 1942. Program #28. NBC network, WKY, Oklahoma City origination. "Rendezvous With Satan". Sustaining. Scott Bishop (writer), Tom Paxton (announcer), Ben Morris, Beloise Wright (?), Eleanor Naylor Corin, Fred Wayne, Muir Hite, Georgiana Cook (billed as Georgiana Cook Hite). 29:20.

99. The Halls Of Ivy - Romiette & Julio (04-18-51)
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Romiette & Julio (Aired April 18, 1951)
The Halls of Ivy was an NBC radio sitcom that ran from 1950-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy (1954-55) produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. Quinn developed the show after he had decided to leave Fibber McGee & Molly. The audition program featured radio veteran Gale Gordon (then co-starring in Our Miss Brooks) and Edna Best in the roles that ultimately went to British husband-and-wife actors Ronald Colman and Benita Hume. The Colmans had shown a flair for radio comedy in recurring roles on The Jack Benny Program in the late 1940s, and they landed the title roles in the new show. The Halls of Ivy featured Colman as William Todhunter Hall, the president of small, Midwestern Ivy College, and his wife, Victoria, a former British musical comedy star who sometimes felt the tug of her former profession, and followed their interactions with students, friends and college trustees. Others in the cast included Herbert Butterfield as testy Clarence Wellman, Willard Waterman (then starring as Harold Peary's successor as The Great Gildersleeve) as John Merriweather, and Elizabeth Patterson and Gloria Gordon as the Halls' maid.

100. The Milton Berle Show - Salute To Literature (03-02-48)
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Salute To Literature (Aired March 2, 1948)
In 1934-36, Berle was heard regularly on The Rudy Vallee Hour, and he got much publicity as a regular on The Gillette Original Community Sing, a Sunday night comedy-variety program broadcast on CBS from September 6, 1936 to August 29, 1937. In 1939, he was the host of Stop Me If You've Heard This One with panelists spontaneously finishing jokes sent in by listeners. Three Ring Time, a comedy-variety show sponsored by Ballantine Ale was followed by a 1943 program sponsored by Campbell's Soups. The audience participation show Let Yourself Go (1944-45) could best be described as slapstick radio with studio audience members acting out long suppressed urges (often directed at host Berle). Kiss and Make Up, on CBS in 1946, featured the problems of contestants decided by a jury from the studio audience with Berle as the Judge. He also made guest appearances on many comedy-variety radio programs during the 1930s and 1940s. Scripted by Hal Block and Martin Ragaway, The Milton Berle Show brought Berle together with Arnold Stang, later a familiar face as Berle's TV sidekick. Others in the cast were Pert Kelton, Mary Schipp, Jack Albertson, Arthur Q. Bryan, Ed Begley, vocalist Dick Forney and announcer Frank Gallop. The Ray Bloch Orchestra provided the music for the series. Sponsored by Philip Morris, it aired on NBC from March 11, 1947, until April 13, 1948. His last radio series was The Texaco Star Theater, which began September 22, 1948 on ABC and continued until June 15, 1949, with Berle heading the cast of Stang, Kelton and Gallop, along with Charles Irving, Kay Armen and double-talk specialist Al Kelly. It employed top comedy writers (Nat Hiken, brothers Danny and Neil Simon, Aaron Ruben), and Berle later recalled this series as "the best radio show I ever did... a hell of a funny variety show." It served as a springboard for Berle's rise as television's first major star.

THIS EPISODE: March 2, 1948. NBC network. Sponsored by: Philip Morris. A "Salute To Literature". Milton's book has just been published, Milton tries to get a library card. Frank Gallop (announcer), Milton Berle, Ray Bloch and His Orchestra. 1/2 hour.

101. The Green Valley Line - Ep.01 and Ep.02 (1947)
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Episode 01 "Spider And The Stranger" and Program 02 "Pop's New Assistant" (1947)
The Green Valley Line is "the story of a back-country railroad in the early years of the 20th Century". Not much is known about the people or history of the Green Valley Line radio show. It was probably a single radio station production, since it doesn't even have credits. There's a real live quality to the show, since there's mis-reading of dialogue, and skewed inflections, but that's a great deal of the charm with this rarely-heard local show. It has simple, direct dialogue and almost no sound effects except for the great sounds of the trains and some random railroad office sounds such as typewriters and such.

TODAY'S SHOW: Program #1. "Spider And The Stranger" - Syndicated. A pre-war series. "A story of a small back-country railroad in the early years of the twentieth century. A story of the lives of small town people in the America of thirty five years ago." Spider McGee and "Slim" arrive in Morristown to find that the Green Valley Line may be sold to the C. K. and W. railroad. "Slim" is really named Bill, and is the son of the millionaire owner of the C. K. and W.! Bill is played by Rollon Parker, the voice of John Todd (Tonto!) is also heard. Since both Parker and Todd are veterans of "The Lone Ranger" program, it's safe to conclude that this series was probably recorded at and syndicated by WXYZ, Detroit. Rollon Parker, John Todd. 13:04.

Program #2. "Pop's New Assistant" - Syndicated. Bill meets Carrie and it's hate at first sight! The Green Valley Line has a $160,000 mortgage due in three months! Rollon Parker, John Todd. 12:46.

102. Jeff Regan Investigator - Two Little Sisters (11-16-48)
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Two Little Sisters (Aired November 16, 1948)
Jeff Regan, Investigator was one of the three detective shows Jack Webb did before Dragnet (see also Pat Novak For Hire and Johnny Modero: Pier 23). It debuted on CBS in July 1948. Webb played JEFF REGAN, a tough private eye working in a Los Angeles investigation firm run by Anthony J. Lyon. Regan introduced himself on each show "I get ten a day and expenses...they call me the Lyon's Eye." The show was fairly well-plotted, Webb's voice was great, and the supporting cast were skillful. Regan handled rough assignments from Lion, with whom he was not always on good terms. He was tough, tenacious, and had a dry sense of humor. The voice of his boss, Anthony Lion, was Wilms Herbert. The show ended in December 1948 but was resurrected in October 1949 with a new cast; Frank Graham played Regan (later Paul Dubrov was the lead) and Frank Nelson portrayed Lion. This version ran on CBS, sometimes as a West Coast regional, until August 1950. Both versions were 30 minutes, but the day and time slot changed several times. A total of 29 episodes from this series are in trading currency.

103. Father Knows Best - Always Tell The Truth (02-22-51)
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Description:

Always Tell The Truth (Aired February 22, 1951)
The series began August 25, 1949, on NBC Radio. Set in the Midwest, it starred Robert Young as General Insurance agent Jim Anderson. His wife Margaret was first portrayed by June Whitley and later by Jean Vander Pyl. The Anderson children were Betty (Rhoda Williams), Bud (Ted Donaldson) and Kathy (Norma Jean Nillson). Others in the cast were Eleanor Audley, Herb Vigran and Sam Edwards. Sponsored through most of its run by General Foods, the series was heard Thursday evenings on NBC until March 25, 1954. The show is often regarded as an example of the conservative and paternalistic nature of American family life in the 1950s and it is also cited as an overly rosy portrayal of American family life. On the radio program, the character of Jim differs from the later television character. The radio Jim is far more sarcastic and shows he really "rules" over his family. Jim also calls his children names, something common on radio but lost in the TV series; for example, Jim says, "What a bunch of stupid children I have." Margaret is portrayed as a paragon of solid reason and patience, unless the plot calls for her to act a bit off. For example, in a Halloween episode, Margaret cannot understand how the table floats in the air, but that is a rare exception. Betty, on radio, is portrayed as a status seeking, boy-crazy teenage girl. To her, every little thing is "the worst thing that could ever happen." Bud, on radio, is portrayed as an "all-American" boy who always seems to need "just a bit more" money, though he gets $1.25 per week in allowance.

104. Defense Attorney - Client Jim Leonard (09-14-51)
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Client Jim Leonard (Aired September 14, 1951)
Playing radio's last lady crime fighter was a prominent actress, Mercedes McCambridge. The series began on NBC under the title "The Defense Rests" in the spring of 1951. NBC soon dropped it so ABC picked it up, kept the same cast, re-titled it :"Defense Attorney" and aired it from August 1951 to December 1952. McCambridge, portraying an attorney named Martha Ellis Bryant, spent virtually no time in the courtroom and instead was in the streets, solving crimes and mysteries. She was assisted by her boy friend, Jud Barnes, a reporter, played by Howard Culver (whose "Straight Arrow" series had just gone off the air.) Six episodes of the ABC series and one of the NBC version have survived and all attest to the excellent writing, good acting, and fast pace of a well-done adventure show. When Attorney Bryant solved her last case on 12-30-52, it brought down the curtain on OTR's lady crime fighters.

THIS EPISODE: September 14, 1951. ABC network. Sustaining. "Jimmy Leonard" is accused of an hit-and-run murder with his hot rod. Jimmy seems reluctant to defend himself. Tony Barrett, Tom McKee, Joel Nessler, Rex Koury (composer, conductor), Dwight Hauser (director), Joel Murcott (writer), Howard Culver, George Pirrone, Mercedes McCambridge, Irene Tedrow. 29:34.

105. The Adventures Of Maisie - Quackenbush (05-10-51)
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Quackenbush (Aired May 10, 1951)
In July, 1945, Ann took Maisie to radio in a half-hour weekly radio for CBS. Famed radio actor Elliott Lewis co-starred as boyfriend Bill, with other parts going to such seasoned radio players as John Brown and Lurene Tuttle. The series ran two seasons, and was revived in 1949 as a syndicated program, now called The Adventures of Maisie. Included in the repertory cast were Hans Conreid (later on Life with Liugi), Sheldon Leonard, Joan Banks, Elvia Allman, Bea Benadaret, and Sandra Gould. The radio show continued in the tried and true Maisie tradition of one part adventure of the emotional kind, one part romance, and one part laughs. To the end Maisie was the single girl, as this allowed her to get involved in continuing adventures of many kinds. These radio adventures of a liberated American "dame" from Brooklyn were tailored to post-WWII, and featured Maisie making her way (and having her way, most of the time) on both sides of the Atlantic. Maisie's favorite comment - "Likewise, I'm sure."

THIS EPISODE: May 10, 1951. "Quackenbush" - Program #65. MGM syndication. Commercials added locally. Maisie has contracted "Flabmeyer's Disease," and there's only one cure! The program has also been identified as program #77. The date above is the date of first broadcast on WMGM, New York City Ann Sothern, Bud Hiestand (announcer), Hans Conried, Harry Zimmerman (composer, conductor), John L. Green (writer), John McGovern, Peter Leeds, Sidney Miller, Virginia Gregg. 27:10.

106. Our Miss Brooks - Taxi Fare (06-19-55)
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Taxi Fare (Aired June 19, 1955)
Our Miss Brooks, an American situation comedy, began as a radio hit in 1948 and migrated to television in 1952, becoming one of the earlier hits of the so-called Golden Age of Television, and making a star out of Eve Arden (1908-1990) as comely, wisecracking, but humane high school English teacher Connie Brooks. The show hooked around Connie's daily relationships with Madison High School students, colleagues, and pompous principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), not to mention favourite student Walter Denton (future television and Rambo co-star Richard Crenna, who fashioned a higher-pitched voice to play the role) and biology teacher Philip Boynton ( Jeff Chandler), the latter Connie's all-but-unrequited love interest, who saw science everywhere and little else anywhere.

THIS EPISODE: June 19, 1955. "Taxi Fare" - CBS network. Miss Brooks has no money to pay off a cab driver, who becomes a constant companion. The system cue and the commercials and/or public service announcements have been deleted. Al Lewis (writer), Arthur Alsberg (writer), Bob Rockwell, Eve Arden, Gale Gordon, Gloria McMillan, Jane Morgan, Jeff Chandler, Jerry Hausner, Joseph Kearns, Larry Berns (producer, director), Lud Gluskin, Richard Crenna. 23:13.

107. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - Paid Killer (01-17-53)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - Paid Killer (Aired January 17, 1953)
The radio show first aired on April 26, 1952 and ran until June 18, 1961 on the CBS radio network. The series starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program. Gunsmoke was notable for its critically acclaimed cast and writing, and is commonly regarded as THE true adult western and one of the finest old time radio shows. Some listeners (such as old time radio expert John Dunning) have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts.

THIS EPISODE: January 17, 1953. CBS network. "Paid Killer". Sustaining. Lawson Hales hires a killer to gun down Marshal Dillon for $5000 in gold. The script was used again on November 22, 1959. Strangely enough, in 1959, the price offered to shoot the Marshal was only $1000! William Conrad, Parley Baer, Harry Bartell, Lawrence Dobkin, Jack Kruschen, Ralph Moody, Roy Rowan (announcer), Rex Koury (composer, conductor), Les Crutchfield (writer), Norman Macdonnell (director), Georgia Ellis. 30:05.

108. The Judy Canova Show - Picnic (09-15-45)
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Picnic (Aired September 15, 1945)
In 1943, she began her own radio program, The Judy Canova Show, that ran for 12 years—first on CBS and then on NBC. Playing herself as a love-starved Ozark bumpkin dividing her time between home and Southern California, Canova was accompanied by a cast that included voicemaster Mel Blanc as Pedro (using the accented voice he later gave the cartoons' Speedy Gonzales) and Sylvester (using the voice that later became associated with the Looney Tunes character), Ruth Perrott as Aunt Aggie, Ruby Dandridge as Geranium, Joseph Kearns as Benchley Botsford and Sharon Douglas as Brenda—with Gale Gordon, Sheldon Leonard and Hans Conried also making periodic appearances.[citation needed] The Sportsmen Quartet joined the show in 1943 and backed Judy on most of her songs, and the Charles Dant Orchestra provided the rest, usually supporting Canova's country warble. Western singer and actor Eddie Dean also appeared with Canova on numerous occasions during the 1930s. During World War II, she closed her show with the song "Goodnight, Soldier" ("Wherever you may be... my heart's lonely... without you") and used her free time to sell U.S. War Bonds. After the war, she introduced a new closing theme that she once said she remembered her own mother singing to her when she was a small child.

109. The Man Called X - Rhythm Of Death (12-30-50)
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Rhythm Of Death (Aired December 30, 1950)
The Man Called X was an espionage radio drama which aired on CBS and NBC from July 10, 1944 to May 20, 1952. Sponsored by Frigidaire and later General Motors, this spy series starred Herbert Marshall as Ken Thurston, Intelligence Agent. Marshall, British by birth, starred in films with many of the greatest, especially Detreich in Blonde Venus, Bette Davis in The Virgin Queen, Vincent Price in The Fly, and a great cast in The Razor's Edge, where he portrayed W. Somerset Maugham.The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra supplied the exotic background music. CBS FRIGIDAIRE - GENERAL MOTORS Thursdays 10:30 - 11:00 pm STARS: Herbert Marshall as Ken Thurston, Intelligence Agent WITH: Leon Belasco as Pagan Seldchmidt ANNOUNCER: Wendell Niles DIRECTOR: Jack Johnstone MUSIC: Johnny Green.

THIS EPISODE: December 30, 1950. NBC network - "Rhythm Of Death". Sponsored by: Anacin, RCA Victor. Ken Thurston investigates witchcraft and death at a uranium mine in the Belgian Congo. J. Richard Kennedy (producer), Felix Mills (composer, conductor), Robert Libbott (writer), Frank Burt (writer), Herbert Marshall, Leon Belasco, Jack Latham (announcer). 29:01.

110. The Damon Runyon Theater - What No Butler? (12-04-49)
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What No Butler? (December 4, 1949)
Damon Runyon Theater - Broadcast from January to December 1949, "The Damon Runyon Theater" dramatized 52 of Runyon's short stories for radio. Damon Runyon (October 4, 1884 – December 10, 1946) was a newspaperman and writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. He spun tales of gamblers, petty thieves, actors and gangsters; few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead to be known as "Nathan Detroit", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charlie", "Dave the Dude", and so on. These stories were written in a very distinctive vernacular style: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions.

THIS EPISODE: 1949. Program #49. Mayfair syndication. "What, No Butler?". Commercials added locally. Justin Vesey is found murdered. Broadway and Ambrose Hammer (the art critic) work on solving the case. Damon Runyon (author), John Brown, Richard Sanville (director), Russell Hughes (adaptor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 28:15.

111. Dad's Army - Sorry Wrong Number (05-06-74)
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Sorry Wrong Number (Aired May 6, 1974)
The unmistakable voice of Bud Flanagan singing 'Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler?', a cod-Second World War propaganda singalong written especially for the show (by Jimmy Perry), introduced Dad's Army, the zenith of the British broad-comedy ensemble sitcom. Consistently good writing and a wonderful cast of old timers and newer talents combined to produce a whimsical period-piece that continues, justifiably, to be savoured and has now assumed a place in the 'hall of greats' pantheon, adored by new generations of the British public.

THIS EPISODE: May 6, 1974 - "Sorry Wrong Number". Captain Mainwaring is horrified when he discovers half the platoon do not know how to use a telephone correctly. He attempts to instruct them on the correct use to aid better communication between men on patrol and the church hall. However, when a German plane crashes in the resevoir, Jones puts these methods to the test with chaotic results...Cast: Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring) , John Le Mesurier (Sergeant Wilson), Clive Dunn (Lance Corporal Jones), John Laurie (Private Frazer), Ian Lavender (Private Pike), Graham Stark (Private Walker), Bill Pertwee (The ARP Warden), Pearl Hackney (Mrs Pike), Avril Angers (The Telephone Operator), John Forest (Lieutenant Hope-Bruce), John Snagge (BBC Announcer.

112. The Silent Men - Confess Or Die (03-19-52)
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Confess Or Die (Aired March 19, 1952)
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. played the parts of "special agents of all branches of the federal government, who daily risk their lives to protect the lives of all of us... to guard our welfare and our liberties, they must remain nameless - The Silent Men!" At each episode, Fairbanks checked in with his chief, played by either William Conrad or Herb Butterfield. Regulars included Virginia Gregg, Raymond Burr, Lou Merrill, Lurene Tuttle, Paul Frees and John Dehner. Don Stanley was the announcer. The show was produced and directed by Warren Lewis, who wrote many of the scripts along with Joel Murcott. The series ran on NBC.

THIS EPISODE: March 19, 1952. NBC network. "Confess Or Die". Sustaining. A newspaperman is rescued by a government-man. American Magazine has voted the program, "The top family adventure program on the air." Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Don Stanley (announcer), Warren Lewis (producer, director, writter), Lou Rusoff (writer), William Johnstone, Vivi Janis, Shepard Menken, Joan Banks, Stan Waxman. 30:12.

113. The Sealed Book - Till Death Do Us Part (07-08-45)
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Till Death Do Us Part (Aired July 8, 1945)
The Sealed Book starred Philip Clarke as “the keeper of the book”, a croaking, cackling hermit, with knowledge of the black arts, who in each show unlocked “the great padlock” that kept “the sealed book safe from prying eyes.” There was a spook story each week with tales of secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages.

THIS EPISODE: July 8, 1945. Program #17. Mutual network origination, syndicated. "Till Death Do Us Part". Commercials added locally. A husband plans to murder his wife because she loves him too much! He drowns her but she returns. Robert A. Arthur (writer), David Kogan (writer), Phillip Clark (host). 1/2 hour.

114. The Theater Guild On The Air - The Third Man (01-07-51)
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The Third Man (Aired January 7, 1951)
The Theater Guild On The Air - The theatrical society in U.S.A. is termed as Theatre Guild. Founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner (1890-1962) and others, the group proposed to produce high-quality, noncommercial plays. Its board of directors shared responsibility for choice of plays, management, and production. After the premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House in 1920, the Guild became his U.S. agent and staged 15 of his plays. It also produced successful plays by Eugene O’Neill, Maxwell Anderson, and Robert Sherwood and featured actors such as the Lunts and Helen Hayes. It helped develop the American musical by staging Porgy and Bess (1935), Oklahoma! (1943), and Carousel (1945); later also producing the radio series Theatre Guild on the Air (1945-53) and even presented plays on television.

THIS EPISODE: January 7, 1951. NBC network. "The Third Man". Commercials deleted. The program originates from the Belasco Theater, New York. The program is also known as, "The United States Steel Hour" and "The NBC Theatre Guild." An excellent production of the thriller set in post-war Vienna. Intrigue and death in the sewers beneath the city. Zither transitions possibly by Anton Karas. The program closing has been deleted. Graham Greene (writer), Joseph Cotten, Signe Hasso, Anthony Ireland, Stefan Schnabel, Berry Kroeger, Roger Pryor (host), Anton Karas. 55 minutes.

115. The Great Gildersleeve - Leroy Buys A Car (09-05-51)
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Leroy Buys A Car (Aired September 5, 1951)
The Great Gildersleeve (1941-1957), initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. Built around a character who had been a staple on the classic radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest success in the 1940s. Actor Harold Peary played the character during its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in a quartet of feature films released at the height of the show's popularity. On Fibber McGee and Molly, Peary's Gildersleeve was a pompous windbag who became a consistent McGee nemesis. "You're a haa-aa-aa-aard man, McGee!" became a Gildersleeve catch phrase. The character was given several conflicting first names on Fibber McGee and Molly, and on one episode his middle name was revealed as Philharmonic. Gildy admits as much at the end of "Gildersleeve's Diary" on the Fibber McGee and Molly series (10/22/40). He soon became so popular that Kraft Foods — looking primarily to promote its Parkay margarine spread — sponsored a new series with Peary's Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve as the central, slightly softened, and slightly befuddled focus of a lively new family.

THIS EPISIODE:"Leroy Buys A Car" - September 5, 1951. NBC network. Sponsored by: Kraft. The first show of the season. It's finally time to teach Leroy how to drive. Willard Waterman, Paul West (writer), John Elliotte (writer), Andy White (writer), Walter Tetley, Marylee Robb, Robert Armbruster (music), Lillian Randolph, Bud Hiestand (announcer), Ken Christy, Earle Ross, Richard LeGrand. 30:04.

116. Pete Kelly's Blues - Gus Trudeaux (08-22-51)
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Gus Trudeaux (Aired August 22, 1951)
The supporting cast was minimal; apart from the off-mike character Lupo and occasional speaking parts by the band members (notably Red the bass player, played by Jack Kruschen), the only other regular role of note was Maggie Jackson, the torch singer at another club (Fat Annie's, "across the river on the Kansas side"), played by blues singer Meredith Howard. In one episode, Bessie Smith is mentioned as the singer at Fat Annie's instead of Maggie Jackson. Boozy ex-bootlegger Barney Ricketts would show up occasionally, an informant not unlike the character Jocko Madigan on Webb and Breen's Pat Novak for Hire. The episodic roles were filled by William Conrad (as various mob bosses), Vic Perrin, and Roy Glenn, amongst others. The music dominated the series.

THIS EPISODE: August 22, 1951. Program #7. NBC network. Sustaining. Dutch Courtney has been murdered. Gus Trudeau goes on the lam from Courtney's men and the cops. The first tune is, "Sensation Rag." Another recording of this program has a different cast and begins with, "Jazz Me Blues." Dick Cathcart (cornet), Jack Webb, James Moser (writer), Matty Matlock, Richard Breen (creator), Matty Matlock (scoring), Richard Green (creator). 29:22.

117. The Falcon - The Case Of The Vanishing Varmint (07-11-44)
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The Case Of The Vanishing Varmint (Aired July 11, 1944)
The success of Falcon films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his transition into a private eye was finalized, with The Falcon, now called MICHAEL WARING working as a hardboiled insurance investigator, with an office and a secretary, Nancy. Barry Kroeger was the first radio voice of the Falcon, followed by James Meighan, Les Tremayne, George Petrie, and Les Damon. Nearly all the shows were broadcast from New York. Each show usually started out with a telephone call to The Falcon from a beautiful woman. Answering in his slightly British accent, he would reply to her and another adventure would follow. Waring was snappy and sarcastic with the incompetent police who were inevitably unable to solve the mysteries without his help. Like the films, the radio plots mixed danger, romance and comedy in equal parts.

THIS EPISODE: July 11, 1944 - NBC network. "The Case Of The Vanishing Varmint". Sponsored by: Kraft Miracle Whip, Kraft Malted Milk. "Dead bodies, like bad pennies, always turn up!" Les Damon, Ed Herlihy (announcer), Drexel Drake (creator), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Richard Lewis (director), Eugene Wang (writer), Arlo (music), Charles Webster. 31:55.

118. You Bet Your Life - Secret Word Is "Paper" (01-14-55)
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Secret Word Is Paper (Aired January 14, 1955)
Groucho Marx matches wits with the American public in four episodes of this classic game show. Starting on the radio in 1947, You Bet Your Life made its television debut in 1950 and aired for 11 years with Groucho as host and emcee. Sponsored rather conspicuously by the Dodge DeSoto car manufacturers, the show featured two contestants working as a team to answer questions for cash prizes. Another mainstay of these question and answer segments was the paper mache duck that would descend from the ceiling with one hundred dollars in tow whenever a player uttered the "secret word." The quiz show aspect of "You Bet Your Life" was always secondary, to the clever back-and-forth between host and contestant, which found Groucho at his funniest. It's in these interview segments that "You Bet Your Life" truly makes its mark as one of early television's greatest programs. Directed by: Robert Dwan. It was one of many non-rigged quiz shows of the 1950's which suffered in the ratings due to the scandals surrounding "Twenty One", "The $64,000 Question" and "Dotto".

119. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Six Shooter" - The Silver Buckle (01-17-54)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Six Shooter" - The Silver Buckle (Aired January 17, 1954)
The Six Shooter brought James Stewart to the NBC microphone on September 20, 1953, in a fine series of folksy Western adventures. Stewart was never better on the air than in this drama of Britt Ponset, frontier drifter created by Frank Burt. The epigraph set it up nicely: "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged: his skin is sun dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl. People call them both The Six Shooter." Ponset was a wanderer, an easy-going gentleman and -- when he had to be -- a gunfighter. Stewart was right in character as the slow-talking maverick who usually blundered into other people's troubles and sometimes shot his way out. His experiences were broad, but The Six Shooter leaned more to comedy than other shows of its kind.

THIS EPISODE: January 17, 1954. "The Silver Buckle" - NBC network. Sustaining. A trip through a mountain pass with two strange companions...with a strange purpose. Jimmy Stewart, Jack Johnstone (director), Basil Adlam (music), Forrest Lewis, William Conrad, Frank Burt (creator, writer), Hal Gibney (announcer), Eleanor Audley, Frank Gerstle, Joel Cranston. 29:27.

120. Amos & Andy Show - A Birthday Gift For Sapphire (03-12-46)
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A Birthday Gift For Sapphire (Aired March 12, 1946)
Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. The show began as one of the first radio comedy serials, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll and originating from station WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois. After the series was first broadcast in 1928, it grew in popularity and became a huge influence on the radio serials that followed. Amos 'n' Andy creators Gosden and Correll were white actors familiar with minstrel traditions. They met in Durham, North Carolina in 1920, and by the fall of 1925, they were performing nightly song-and-patter routines on the Chicago Tribune's station WGN. Since the Tribune syndicated Sidney Smith's popular comic strip The Gumps, which had successfully introduced the concept of daily continuity, WGN executive Ben McCanna thought the notion of a serialized drama could also work on radio. He suggested to Gosden and Correll that they adapt The Gumps to radio. They instead proposed a series about "a couple of colored characters" and borrowed certain elements of The Gumps. Their new series, Sam 'n' Henry, began January 12, 1926, fascinating radio listeners throughout the Midwest. That series became popular enough that in late 1927 Gosden and Correll requested that it be distributed to other stations on phonograph records in a "chainless chain" concept that would have been the first use of radio syndication as we know it today. When WGN rejected the idea, Gosden and Correll quit the show and the station that December. Contractually, their characters belonged to WGN, so when Gosden and Correll left WGN, they performed in personal appearances but could not use the character names from the radio show.

THIS EPISODE: March 12, 1946. NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "A Birthday Gift For Sapphire". The Kingfish buys Sapphire a beaver coat for her birthday. When it turns out to be stolen, The Kingfish tries to have it stolen back. The date and net origination is subject to correction. The correct date may be December 7, 1952. Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll. 25 minutes.

121. The New Adventures Of Michael Shayne - The Case Of The Popular Corpse (1947)
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The Case Of The Popular Corpse (1947)
Michael Shayne was a fictional sleuth created by Brett Halliday (a pen name for author Davis Dresser) who was first initiated into the fraternity for detectives in the 1939 novel "Dividend of Death". Dresser based the character on a “tall and rangy” brawler who once saved his life during a braw in a Mexican cantina. The Shayne character would go on to appear in 69 novels, plus a long-running mystery magazine—and in 1941, was brought to the silver screen in Paramount’s Michael Shayne, Private Detective, an adaptation of Dividend of Death that starred Lloyd Nolan, and paved the way for six additional B-mysteries to follow. The New Adventures of Michael Shayne—premiered on July 15, 1948 starring Jeff Chandler.

THIS EPISODE: 1947. Program #15. Broadcaster's Guild syndication. "The Case Of The Popular Corpse". Commercials added locally. Shayne is hired to find a rich heiress. An hour later, a mysterious man hires Shayne to find the same girl. The date is approximate. Jeff Chandler, Don W. Sharp (producer), William P. Rousseau (director, host), Brett Halliday (creator), Robert Ryf (writer), John Duffy (composer, conductor). 26:50.

122. The CBS Radio Mystery Theater - Resident Kill (10-25-82)
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Resident Kill (Aired October 25, 1982)
As you walk through the creaking door you enter into another world, the world of imagination. This world is inside you, a part of you, and you take this journey alone. Each person hears and then sees with his or her mind's eye the events portrayed within these dramas. All of us interprets what they hear differently. The images we see is unique to ourselves. A voice becomes a person, living, breathing they come alive. They take on a physical form and characteristics that we assign to them. The wonders of your own mind are boundless. Scary thoughts? Perhaps, but what powers they bring us! To exercise one's imagination is to exercise one's soul. These dramas provide us with an escape from reality. To adventures beyond our own lives. Enjoy them. And pleasant dreams!

123. The Fat Man - Murder Pays Dividends (1949)
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Murder Pays Dividends (1949)
The Fat Man - "There he goes across the street into the drugstore, steps on the scale, height: 6 feet, weight: 290 pounds, fortune: Danger. Who isit? THE FAT MAN." Brad Runyon was the Fat Man, played by Jack Scott Smart. The series was created by Dashall Hammott and was first heard on the ABC network Jan. 21, 1946. J. Scott Smart fit the part of the Fat Man perfectly, weighing in at 270 pounds himself. When he spoke, there was no doubt that this was the voice of a big guy. Smart gave a witty, tongue-in-cheek performance and helped make THE FAT MAN one of the most popular detective programs on the air. Smart also appeared in The March Of Time (early 1930s), the Theater Guild On The Air, Blondie, The Fred Allen Show, and The Jack Benny Program. There was also an version made in Australia, syndicated on the Artansa lable, about 1954. There are at least 36 shows available from vendors. The Australian Fat Man was played possibly by Lloyd Berrell. Although not featuring J. Scott Smart, who really fit the part, the series is quite good.

124. The Adventures Of Horatio Hornblower - Chasing The Papillion (05-15-53)
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Chasing The Papillion (Aired May 15, 1953)
Broadcast 1952; Transcribed in England for the BBC; aired in U.S. on CBS, then again on ABC in 1954 and Mutual in 1957. Starring Michael Redgrave as Horatio Hornblower. a captain in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era. The radio series was based on twelve Horatio Hornblower novels written by C.S. Forester. These novels were, and still are, well liked due to their realistic tone and historical accuracy in telling the tales of Naval life in the late 1700s through the mid 1800s. C.S. Forester was well known for his novels about military and naval life, including such fine titles as The African Queen, The Gun, The Barbary Pirates, and The General.

125. 21st Precinct - The Brother (04-14-54)
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The Brother (Aired April 14, 1954)
21st Precinct was one of the realistic police drama series of the early- to mid-1950's that were aired in the wake of DRAGNET. NBC's DRAGNET had proven that a realistic police show could attract and hold an audience. In 1953 CBS decided to use New York City as the backdrop for their own half-hour police series and focus on the day-to-day operation of a single police precinct. Actual cases were used as the basis for stories. The Precinct Captain acted as the narrator for the series.

THIS EPISODE: April 14, 1954. The Brother - CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. The music fill has been deleted. Everett Sloane, John Ives (producer), Stanley Niss (writer, director), Eileen Palmer, Bryna Raeburn, Wendell Holmes, Joe DeSantis, Martin Newman, Santos Ortega, Art Hannes (announcer). 26:55.

126. The Crime Club - Dead Man Control (03-20-47)
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Description:

Dead Man Control (Aired March 20, 1947)
Crime club was a Mutual Network murder and mystery series, a product of the Doubleday Crime Book Club imprints found weekly in bookstores everywhere. The telephone rings"Hello, I hope I haven't kept you waiting. Yes, this is the Crime Club. I'm the Librarian. Murder Rents A Room? Yes, we have that Crime Club story for you.Come right over. (The organist in the shadowed corner of the Crime Club library shivers the ivories) The doorbell tones sullenly"And you are here. Good. Take the easy chair by the window. Comfortable? The book is on this shelf." (The organist hits the scary chord) "Let's look at it under the reading lamp." The Librarian, played by Raymond E. Johnson, begins reading the tale. Veteran Willis Cooper (Lights Out, Quiet Please) did some of the scripts from the Crime Club books.

THIS EPISODE: March 20, 1947. Mutual network. "Dead Men Control". Sustaining. A millionaire is killed while opening his wall safe. A large diamond is found missing, but is found again too soon. Helen Riley (writer), Ted Osborne, Alice Frost, Elspeth Eric. 1/2 hour.

127. Broadway Is My Beat - Robert Turk (10-18-52)
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Robert Turk (Aired October 18, 1952)
Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With music by Robert Stringer, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air, with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb. Beginning with the July 7, 1949 episode, the series was broadcast from Hollywood with producer Elliott Lewis directing a new cast in scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The opening theme of "I'll Take Manhattan" introduced Detective Danny Clover (now played by Larry Thor), a hardened New York City cop who worked homicide "from Times Square to Columbus Circle -- the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."

THIS EPISODE: October 18, 1952. CBS network. Sustaining. Robert Turk is found with a cut throat in an apartment filled with incense and opium. There's a 7-armed idol and a parakeet with a twisted neck. Larry Thor, Charles Calvert, Jack Kruschen, Sammie Hill, Lee Miller, Truda Marson, Lou Merrill, Elliott Lewis (transcribed, director), Alexander Courage (composer, conductor), Bill Anders (announcer). 28:59.

128. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Hopalong Cassidy" - Death Crosses The River (01-13-51)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Hopalong Cassidy" - Death Crosses The River (Aired January 13, 1951)
A western that was greater than The Roy Rogers Show or Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. Hoppy was a hero to one and all. He and his sidekick, California Carlson, roamed the Southwest in thrilling stories week after week. Almost every tale had a little mystery in it, and almost every story ended with Hoppy's boiserous laugh. Clarence Mulford, the author of the Hopalong Cassidy stores, created a hard- fisted, rough and tought cowboy. Nowhewre's near or liked the loveable Hoppy of the movies and radio series. He became a hero in black and on a white horse - a super hero of the West. He rescued damsels and cowboys in trouble, along with ranchers and bankers and railroad owners always against the bad guys - robbers, thieves, rustlers and the like. William Boyd was Hoppy and his sidekick was played by either Andy Clyde or Joe DuVal. Boyd who began his movie career in the days of silent films was a forgotten man until he was asked to portray Hopalong Cassidy in the movies of the 1940s. By 1946 or so he had been in over 60 Hoppy movies and was crowned the king of the cowboys. He became the hero of kids around the world and this lasted until another resurgence in the form of the Hoppy radio series.

THIS EPISODE: January 13, 1951. Program #67. Commodore syndication. "Death Crosses The River". Commercials added locally. Hoppy and California finds themselves $50,000 richer after a stagecoach robbery. They uncover a gun-running operation William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Walter White Jr. (producer, trasncriber), Herb Purdum (writer). 26:59.

129. The Adventures Of Leonidas Witherall - Murder At The State Fair (09-24-44)
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Murder At The State Fair (Aired September 24, 1944)
Based on the novels of Phoebe Atwood Taylor (writing as Alice Tilton), the 30-minute dramas were produced by Roger Bower and starred Walter Hampden as Leonidas Witherall, a New England boys' school instructor in Dalton, Massachusetts, a fictional Boston suburb. Witherall, who resembled William Shakespeare, is an amateur detective and the accomplished author of the "popular Lieutenant Hazeltine stories." His housekeeper Mrs. Mollett, who in the novels is constantly offering her "candied opinion", was played by Ethel Remey (1895-1979) and Agnes Moorehead[1] and Jack MacBryde appeared as Police Sgt. McCloud. The announcer was Carl Caruso. Milton Kane supplied the music. The series began June 4, 1944 and continued until May 6, 1945.

THIS EPISODE: September 24, 1944. Murder At The State Fair". Mutual network. Sustaining. 9:00 P. M. Three different people threaten the life of a miserable old women. When she is found dead at the state fair, all are suspect. The program is next on the air on October 8, 1944 at 7:00 P. M. Walter Hampden, Ethel Remey, Alice Tilton (creator), Howard Merrill (writer), Roger Bower (director). 29:16.

130. The Bob & Ray Show - WOR Radio New York (03-13-73)
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WOR Radio New York (Aired March 13, 1973)
Bob Elliott (born 1923) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990) were an American comedy team whose career spanned five decades. Their format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such as conducting radio or television interviews, with off-the-wall dialogue presented in a generally deadpan style as though it were a serious interview. Elliott and Goulding began as disc jockeys in Boston with their own separate programmes on station WHDH-AM, and each would visit with the other while on the air. Their informal banter was so appealing that WHDH would call on them, as a team, to fill in when Red Sox baseball broadcasts were rained out. Elliott and Goulding (not yet known as Bob and Ray) would improvise comedy routines all afternoon, and joke around with studio musicians. Some of their radio episodes were released on recordings, and others were adapted into graphic story form for publication in Mad magazine. Their earlier shows were mostly ad-libbed, but later programs relied more heavily on scripts. While Bob and Ray wrote much of their material, their writers included Tom Koch, who scripted many of their best-known routines, and the pioneering radio humorist Raymond Knight.

131. Pat Novak For Hire - The Laundry Mix-Up (05-07-49)
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The Laundry Mix-Up (Aired May 7, 1949)
Pat Novak, played by Jack Webb, was a private detective working out of Pier 19, a waterfront office in San Francisco. The stories were always very similar: Someone would hire him, (if not a beautiful woman, the job would lead to a beautiful woman) someone would get murdered, he would investigate the case, get beaten up by the thugs, and then the case would be solved and end with glorious violence. The closing was always the same; the listener would be told who had done what, to whom and why they had done it.

THIS EPISODE: May 7, 1949. Program #10. ABC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Laundry Mix-up". The wrong shirt leads Novak to murder and grief. Jack Webb. 30:22.

132. The Casebook Of Gregory Hood - The Black Museum (06-10-46)
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The Black Museum (Aired June 10, 1946)
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Gale Gordon in the title role, took over where Sherlock Holmes had left off. Sponsored by Petri wine, it used the same "weekly visit" format and the same team of Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green that had written The New Adventured of Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood was modelled after true-life San Francisco importer Richard Gump, and many of the stories revolve around a mystery surrounding some particular imported treasure. Hood's sidekick Sanderson "Sandy" Taylor was played by Bill Johnstone. The show aired from June, 1946 through August, 1950. There were an additional couple of shows aired in October 1951. Hood and Sanderson were played in later episodes by Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, respectively.

THIS EPISODE: June 10, 1946. Mutual network. "The Black Museum". Sponsored by: Petri Wine. Gregory Hood meets "Markham," a fellow collector of murder weapons. Mr. Markham has a dishonest assistant and an unfaithful wife. Gregory has just imported an Aztec sacrificial knife...with a very real curse on it. Gale Gordon, Harry Bartell (announcer), Dean Fosler (composer, conductor), Denis Green (writer), Anthony Boucher (writer), Art Gilmore. 29:29.

133. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Have Gun Will Travel" - Deliver The Body (07-19-59)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Have Gun Will Travel" - Deliver The Body (07-19-59)
The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman-turned-gunfighter (played by Richard Boone on television, and by John Dehner on radio), who preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. Paladin lived in the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in semi-formal wear, ate gourmet food, and attended opera. In fact, many who initially met him mistook him for a dandy from the East. When working, he dressed in black, used calling cards and wore a holster which carried characteristic chess knight emblems, and carried a derringer under his belt. The knight symbol is in reference to his name — possibly a nickname or working name — and his occupation as a champion-for-hire (see paladin). The theme song of the series refers to him as "a knight without armor." In addition, Paladin drew a parallel between his methods and the chess piece's movement: "It's a chess piece, the most versatile on the board. It can move in eight different directions, over obstacles, and it's always unexpected." Paladin was a former Army officer and a graduate of West Point. He was a polyglot, capable of speaking any foreign tongue required by the plot. He also had a thorough knowledge of ancient history and classical literature, and he exhibited a strong passion for legal principles and the rule of law.

THIS EPISODE: July 19, 1959. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "Deliver The Body". Ben Tyler has been accused of murdering the sheriff. Paladin is anxious to leave San Francisco to avoid women fighting over him. He accepts the job to return Ben to trial. The script was reportedly used on the "Have Gun, Will Travel" television show on May 24, 1958, but there is conflicting evidence. John Dehner, Ben Wright, Virginia Gregg, Richard Crenna, Harry Bartell, Herb Meadow (creator), Sam Rolfe (creator), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Buckley Angel (writer), John Dawson (adaptor), Bartlett Robinson, James Westerfield, Hugh Douglas (announcer), Bill James (sound effects), Tom Hanley (sound effects). 25 minutes.

134. The Devil & Mr. O - Ancestor (10-29-71)
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Ancestor (Aired October 29, 1971)
With its premiere on the nationwide NBC hookup in 1935, Lights Out was billed "the ultimate in horror." Never had such sounds been heard on the air. Heads rolled, bones were crushed, people fell from great heights and splattered wetly on pavement. There were garrotings, choking, heads split by cleavers, and, to a critic at Radio Guide, "the most monstrous of all sounds, human flesh being eaten." Few shows had ever combined the talents of actors and imaginative writers so well with the graphic art of the sound technician. Arch Oboler's shows are well represented -- this series of Lights Out was syndicated in The Devil and Mr. O offerings of 1970 - 73. A transcribed syndication of original broadcasts from 1942 - 43 with Arch Oboler as the host.

THIS EPISODE: October 29, 1971. CBS network. "Ancestor". Sponsored by: Ironized Yeast, Energene. A woman held prisoner by three gangsters is rescued by a strange hero. The program includes a war bond appeal by Claudette Colbert. The story is also known as, "The Archer." Arch Oboler (writer, host), Claudette Colbert, Frank Martin (commercial spokesman). 29:34.

135. People Are Funny - The Quickest Way To Borrow Money (10-01-58)
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The Quickest Way To Borrow Money (Aired October 1, 1958)
People are Funny was a television game show that premiered and ended on NBC from 1954-1961. It was shot in the outside world and dared people to do stunts for fun for spectators. This was done to "reveal the true nature" of their guests. This show was considered a predecessor to most of the reality game shows we know today, such as "Survivor" and MTV's "Jackass." Art Linkletter was the more well-known host of the show. Viewers grew up with him, but not just on People are Funny. He was also seen on Life With Linkletter (1950-52 & 1969-70), Art Linkletter's House Party (1952-69), and The Art Linkletter Show (1963.

THIS EPISODE: October 1, 1958. NBC network. Sponsored by: Sustaining, Vick's Vapo-Rub. Rebroadcast as a feature on "Nightline." A housewife tries to pawn her husband...for $1000! Art Linkletter, Walter O'Keefe (host of "Nightline"), John Guedel (producer), Bert Parks (promotional announcement for "Bandstand"), Arnold Stang (promotional announcement for "Bandstand"), Dorothy Olsen (promotional announcement for "Bandstand"), Skitch Henderson (promotional announcement for "Bandstand"), Richard Hayes (promotional announcement for "Bandstand"). 23:00.

136. The American Trail - Louisiana Purchase & California Gold Rush (1953)
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Louisiana Purchase & California Gold Rush (1953)
The American Trail tells the stories of brave men and women who helped build our nation, the “Land of Opportunity”. These are the people who looked at our flag and repeated the words penned by George M. Cohan, "You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag/ And forever in peace may you wave." This 13 part serial chronicles the beautiful history of the United States of America and tells of the lives that made the citizens of that great Nation look up at that Red, White, and Blue. The Ladies' Auxiliary of The Veterans of Foreign Wars syndication.

TODAY'S SHOW

Program #3 "The Louisiana Purchase" 14:32.

Program #9 "The California Goldrush" 14:18.

137. The New Adventures Of Nero Wolf - Calculated Risk (01-19-51)
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Calculated Risk (Aired January 19, 1951)
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective created by American author Rex Stout in the 1930s and featured in dozens of novels and novellas.In the stories, Wolfe is one of the most famous private detectives in the United States. He weighs about 285 pounds and is 5'11" tall. He raises orchids in a rooftop greenhouse in his New York City brownstone on West 35th Street, helped by his live-in gardener Theodore Horstmann. He employs a live-in chef, Fritz Brenner. He is multilingual and brilliant, though apparently self-educated, and reading is his third passion after food and orchids. He works in an office in his house and almost never leaves home, even to pursue the detective work that finances his expensive lifestyle. Instead, his leg work is done by another live-in employee, Archie Goodwin. While both Wolfe and Goodwin are licensed detectives, Goodwin is more of the classic fictional gumshoe, tough, wise-cracking, and skirt-chasing. He tells the stories in a breezy first-person narrative that is semi-hard-boiled in style.

138. Rocky Jordan - The Makeup Man (05-22-49)
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The Makeup Man (Aired May 22, 1949)
ROCKY JORDAN was the title character of one of the better and more exotic radio detective series. In fact, it's one of the best detective series I have ever heard. The series had two separate incarnations. The first, A Man Named Jordan, started as a daily 15 minute show and after about six months changed to a weekly 30 minute show. It took place in Istanbul and the Cafe was described as "a small restaurant in a narrow street off Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, permeated with by the smoke of Oriental tobacco, alive with the babble of many tongues, and packed with intrigue." The second incarnation, Rocky Jordan, was a weekly 30 minute series took place in Cairo - "the gateway to the ancient East where adventure and intrigue unfold against the backdrop of antiquity." Jordan was a hard-boiled owner of the Cafe Tambourine who spent most of his time solving mysteries that he usually became involved in by accident. During the Cairo-based run, he often encountered Captain Sam Sabaaya of the Cairo police.

THIS EPISODE: May 29, 1949. CBS Pacific network. "The Make-Up Man". Sustaining. Max Vladny, a Hollywood make-up man with a Russian accent as thick as borscht (which is supposed to be a Hungarian accent), asks Rocky Jordan for protection from assassination attempts. An announcement is made that the program is moving next week to 5:00 P. M. Jack Moyles, Larry Thor (announcer), Paul Frees, Richard Aurandt (composer, conductor), Cliff Howell (producer, director), Larry Roman (story editor), Gomer Cool (story editor), E. Jack Neuman (writer). 29:44.

139. The Zero Hour - Once A Thief (06-05-74)
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Once A Thief (Aired June 5, 1974)
Rod Serling is known to most people as the TV host (and some times writer) for The Twilight Zone. A decade later, he returned to TV to host the spooky Night Gallery series. The series was sold to the networks on Serling's name and reputation, but in reality, he had signed away creative control. A few of his scripts were produced, but others were rejected for being "too thoughtful." (We can't have any of that on television, can we?) He was banned from the casting sessions and had no real say on the show. Despite the shabby treatment by hot shot execs, Serling grit his teeth and did his duty. He continued to lead TV viewers through a darkened museum every week, looking at paintings with even darker themes. (It was very similar to the role Orson Welles served two decades earlier as the host to The Black Museum.) When Night Gallery was canceled in 1972, Serling was probably happy to retire from TV and move to upstate New York. He taught at Ithaca College, not far from where he grew up.

140. Box 13 - Mexican Maze (04-10-49)
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Mexican Maze (Aired April 10, 1949)
Box 13 was a syndicated radio series about the escapades of mystery novelist Dan Holiday (Alan Ladd), a former newsman. Created by Mayfair Productions, the series premiered August 22, 1948, on New York's WOR and aired in syndication on the East Coast from August 22, 1948, to August 14. 1949. On the West Coast, Box 13 was heard from March 15, 1948 to March 7, 1949. To seek out new ideas for his fiction, Holiday ran a classified ad in the Star-Times newspaper. "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything -- Box 13." The stories followed Holiday's adventures when he responded to the letters sent to him by such people as a psycho killer and various victims.

THIS EPISODE: April 10, 1949. Program #34. Mutual network origination, Mayfair syndication. "Mexican Maze". Commercials added locally. A frame for murder, south of the border style. Richard Sanville (director), Robert Mitchell (writer), Gene Levin (writer), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Alan Ladd, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor), Sylvia Picker. 26:37.

141. The Campbell Playhouse - The Glass Key (03-10-39)
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The Glass Key (Aired March 10, 1939)
The Campbell Playhouse was a sponsored continuation of the Mercury Theater on the Air, a direct result of the instant publicity from the War of the Worlds panic. The switch occurred on December 9, 1938. In spite of using the same creative staff, the show had a different flavor under sponsorship, partially attributed to a guest star policy in place, which relegated the rest of the Mercury Players to supporting cast for Orson Welles and the Hollywood guest of the week. There was a growing schism between Welles, still reaping the rewards of his Halloween night notoriety, and his collaborator John Houseman, still in the producer's chair but feeling more like an employee than a partner. The writer, as during the unsponsored run, was Howard Koch.THIS EPISODE: March 10, 1939. CBS network. "The Glass Key". Sponsored by: Campbell's Soup. A portrait of "the dark ways of the underworld" during the Depression. Crooked politics, murder, violence, a good story. Guest Warden Lawes of Sing Sing is interviewed after the story. Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor), Edgar Barrier, Effie Palmer, Elizabeth Morgan, Elspeth Eric, Ernest Chappell (announcer), Everett Sloane, Howard Smith, Laura Baxter, Lewis E. Lawes (warden of Sing Sing), Myron McCormick, Orson Welles (host), Paul Stewart, Ray Collins (narrator). 60:10.

142. The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny - I Stand Condemned (01-19-47)
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I Stand Condemned (Aired January 19, 1947)
The Jack Benny Program is a classic comedy that is truly one of the best-loved programs from the Golden Age of Radio. It started life as The Canada Dry Program in 1932 on the Blue Network and finished off as The Lucky Strike Program on CBS in 1955. In between, it kept the audience in stitches and established Benny as one of America's all-time great comedians. The format of the show, and the personality of its star, so well honed in two decades on radio, made the transition to television almost intact. Jack's stinginess, vanity about his supposed age of 39, basement vault where he kept all his money, ancient Maxwell automobile, and feigned ineptness at playing the violin were all part of the act. Added to Jack's famous pregnant pause and exasperated "Well!" were a rather mincing walk, an affected hand to the cheek, and a painted look of disbelief when confronted by life's little tragedies.

THIS EPISODE: January 19, 1947. NBC network. Commercials deleted. The cast does its version of, "I Stand Condemned." A mysterious, wealthy stranger is giving money away! The plot is similar to "The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny" of March 24, 1946. Boris Karloff (guest), Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Mel Blanc, Phil Harris, Eddie Anderson, Dennis Day, Jeanette Eymann, Frank Nelson, George Balzer (writer), John Tackaberry (writer), Milt Josefsberg (writer), Sam Perrin (writer), Mahlon Merrick (conductor). 24:34.

143. Dangerous Assignment - Bombay Gun Runners (08-23-50)
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Bombay Gun Runners (Aired August 23, 1950)
This thirty-minute international spy adventure featured Steve Mitchell (Brian Donlevy), and investigator of crimes in exotic locations. 60 episodes. Herb Butterfield played the Commissioner and Betty Moran was the Commissioner's secretary. Other cast members were GeGe Pearson, Ken Peters, Betty Lou Gerson, Dan O’Herlihy. The director was Bill Cairn and the writer for the series was Robert Ryf. The opening was the same every week “Yeah, danger is my assignment. I get sent to a lot of places I can’t even pronounce. They all spell the same thing though, trouble.” He would be summoned to his boss’s office where he would be given his assignment; he would then fly halfway across the globe to save the day! The worldwide locations are dealt up with a feeling of local, and the characters that inhabit these far-away places with strange sounding names are solid and capably acted by veterans. Music is an almost harsh orchestra. Donlevy carries the plots with a world-weary and wary tone that makes sense, based on his occupation.

THIS EPISODE: August 23, 1950. "Bombay Gun Runners." NBC Network. Sponsored by: Wheaties. Steve Mitchell is off to Bombay to help an American who has been framed for gun running. Brian Donlevy, Frank Martin (commercial spokesman), Robert Ryf (writer, commercial spokesman), Basil Adlam (composer), Ralph Hollenbeck (conductor), Bill Cairn (producer, director). 29:29.

144. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Gentleman" - The Honky Tonkers (02-16-58)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Gentleman" - The Honky Tonkers (Aired February 16, 1958)
Frontier Gentleman was a radio Western series heard on CBS from February 2 to November 16, 1958. Written and directed by Antony Ellis, it followed the adventures of J.B. Kendall (John Dehner), a London Times reporter, as he roamed the Western United States, encountering various outlaws and well-known historical figures, such as Jesse James and Calamity Jane. Written and directed by Antony Ellis, it followed the adventures of journalist Kendall as he roamed the Western United States in search of stories for the Times. Along the way, he encountered various fictional drifters and outlaws in addition to well-known historical figures, such as Jesse James, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. Music for the series was by Wilbur Hatch and Jerry Goldsmith, who also supplied the opening trumpet theme. The announcers were Dan Cubberly, Johnny Jacobs, Bud Sewell and John Wald. Supporting cast: Harry Bartell, Lawrence Dobkin, Virginia Gregg, Stacy Harris, Johnny Jacobs, Joseph Kearns, Jack Kruschen, Jack Moyles, Jeanette Nolan, Vic Perrin and Barney Phillips.

THIS EPISODE: February 16, 1958. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "Honky Tonkers". A funny story as J. B. Kendall, reporter, meets Wild Bill Bascombe in a saloon and becomes J. B. Kendall, surgeon. AFRTS program name: "Sagebrush Theatre." The program is also known as "Son-Of-A-Gun." John Dehner, Antony Ellis (writer, producer, director), Jerry Goldsmith (composer, conductor), John Wald (announcer), Jack Kruschen, Stacy Harris, Virginia Gregg, Eve McVeagh, Barney Phillips, Charles Seel. 25 minutes.

145. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Tales Of The Texas Rangers" - Illegal Entry (06-08-52)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Tales Of The Texas Rangers" - Illegal Entry (Aired June 8, 1952)
Joel McCrea stars as Texas Ranger Jace Pearson in this thirty-minute western adventure series. The shows are all re-enactments of incidents from Texas Ranger history. The Texas lawman and his trusty steed, Charcoal, would track a criminal, often a killer, throughout the vast 260,000 square miles of Texas. With Joel McCrea lending star power, Tales of the Texas Rangers debuted over the NBC radio network on July 8, 1950. The thirty-minute show, sponsored by Wheaties, ran on Saturday nights at 9:30 for three months. In October, the show switched to Sunday evenings, eventually settling into the six o’clock time slot.

THIS EPISODE: June 8, 1952. NBC network. "Illegal Entry". Sustaining. A Mexican knifes a fellow countryman and kidnaps a girl. An escape on a train filled with sheep leads Jace and the Rangers on a cross-country race. Jose escapes from jail and the hunt begins once again. Joel McCrea, Stacy Keach (producer, director), M. T. Lone Wolf Gonzaullas (technical advisor), Herb Ellis, Tony Barrett, Lillian Buyeff, Hal March, Jay Arvan, Charles E. Israel (adaptor, transcriber), Hal Gibney (announcer), Jeanette Nolan. 29:26.

146. The Misadventures Of Si & Elmer - Mystery Of The Bank Vault (2 Episodes) 1931
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Mystery Of The Bank Vault (2 Episodes) 1931
The Misadventures Of Si and Elmer - Silas Q. Perkins and Elmer Peabody from Punkinville are the Hayseed Sherlocks, recent graduates of the Snoop & Sneak Correspondent School. The early MIS-adventure serial, traces their investigative careers and resulting misadventures. This is the earliest adventure serial known to be available.Syndicated by R.U. McIntosh and Associates (Perry Crandall). Transcribed (Hollywood Radioscriptions, Inc. Studios).

147. The New Adventures Of Michael Shayne - Mail Order Murders (1950)
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The Case Of The Mail Order Murders (1950)
Michael Shayne was a fictional sleuth created by Brett Halliday (a pen name for author Davis Dresser) who was first initiated into the fraternity for detectives in the 1939 novel "Dividend of Death". Dresser based the character on a “tall and rangy” brawler who once saved his life during a braw in a Mexican cantina. The Shayne character would go on to appear in 69 novels, plus a long-running mystery magazine—and in 1941, was brought to the silver screen in Paramount’s Michael Shayne, Private Detective, an adaptation of Dividend of Death that starred Lloyd Nolan, and paved the way for six additional B-mysteries to follow. The New Adventures of Michael Shayne—premiered on July 15, 1948 starring Jeff Chandler.

THIS EPISODE: Broadcaster's Guild syndication, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Case Of The Mail Order Murders". A murder letter and Demetrius, the organ grinder. Jeff Chandler, Jack Webb, William P. Rousseau (host, director), Brett Halliday (creator). 1/2 hour.

148. The Adventures Of Frank Merriwell - The Snow Trap (01-15-49)
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The Snow Trap (Aired January 15, 1949)
Frank Merriwell, the much-loved fictional hero of Street and Smith's Tip Top Weekly, was first introduced to readers on April 18, 1896. Merriwell was the creation of writer Burt L. Standish (real name: Gilbert Patten), and embodied a new type of dime novel hero, one who relied as much upon mental as physical prowess. The Yale-educated Merriwell possessed "a body like Tarzan's and a head like Einstein's," wrote one admiring writer, and thus represented "the perfect union of brain and brawn." The show First ran on NBC radio from March 26 to June 22, 1934 as a 15-minute serial airing three times a week at 5:30pm. Sponsored by Dr. West's Toothpaste, this program starred Donald Briggs in the title role. Harlow Wilcox was the announcer. After a 12-year gap, the series returned October 5, 1946 as a 30-minute NBC Saturday morning show, continuing until June 4, 1949. Lawson Zerbe starred as Merriwell, Jean Gillespie and Elaine Rostas as Inza Burrage, Harold Studer as Bart Hodge and Patricia Hosley as Elsie Belwood. The announcer was Harlow Wilcox, and the Paul Taubman Orchestra supplied the background music. There are at least three generations of Merriwells: Frank, his half-brother Dick, and Frank's son, Frank Jr. There is a marked difference between Frank and Dick. Frank usually handled challenges on his own. Dick has mysterious friends and skills that help him, especially an old Indian friend without whom the stories would not have been quite as interesting.

THIS EPISODE: January 15, 1949. NBC network. "The Snow Trap". Sustaining. Frank and Bart rescue Inza and Elsie (Bart's girl) who are trapped in a cabin after an avalanche. Lawson Zerbe, Hal Studer, Elaine Rost, Harlow Wilcox (announcer), Burt L. Standish (creator). 1/2 hour.

149. Life With Luigi - Luigi Goes Dancing (03-27-49)
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Luigi Goes Dancing (Aired March 27, 1949)
Life with Luigi was a radio comedy-drama series which began September 21, 1948 on CBS. The story concerned Italian immigrant Luigi Basco, and his experiences as an immigrant in Chicago. Many of the shows take place at the US citizenship classes that Luigi attends with other immigrants from different countries, as well as trying to fend off the repeated advances of the morbidly-obese daughter of his landlord/sponsor. Luigi was played by J. Carrol Naish, an Irish-American. Naish continued in the role on the short-lived television version in 1952, and was later replaced by Vito Scotti. With a working title of The Little Immigrant, Life with Luigi was created by Cy Howard, who earlier had created the hit radio comedy, My Friend Irma. The show was often seen as the Italian counterpart to the radio show The Goldbergs, which chronicled the experience of Jewish immigrants in New York.

THIS EPISODE: Life With Luigi. March 27, 1949. CBS network. Sustaining. After a quick visit to Arthur Murray's, Luigi takes an American girl to a dance. J. Carrol Naish, Cy Howard (creator, producer), Alan Reed, Hans Conried, Jody Gilbert, Joe Forte, Ken Peters, Mary Shipp, Mac Benoff (writer, director), Lou Derman (writer). 29:53.

150. The Adventures Of Philip Marlowe - Heat Wave (04-16-49)
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Heat Wave (Aired April 16, 1949)
The revival of Philip Marlowe was more favorably received, probably because of a combination of writing and acting. No one could duplicate the writing of Raymond Chandler, but this group of writers was very good. While Chandler's distinctive similes were largely lacking, the strong dry, sarcastic narration was there, and the way Gerald Mohr delivered the lines had a way of making you forget that they weren't written by Chandler. Mr. Mohr seemed born for the part of the cynical detective. His voice and timing were perfect for the character. In a letter to Gene Levitt, one of the show's writers, Raymond Chandler commented that a voice like Gerald Mohr's at least packed personality; a decided an improvement over his opinion of the original show. By 1949 the show had the largest audience in radio. CBS capitalized on the popularity of Philip Marlowe to introduce a look-alike show a few months later, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. During the period both shows were broadcast, Johnny Dollar played second fiddle to the popular Philip Marlowe. Even after Marlowe went off the air in 1951, Dollar remained an average detective show. That was to end Oct 3, 1955 when Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar changed everything; the writers, the format to 15 minutes and the lead actor.

THIS EPISODE: April 16, 1949. CBS network. "The Heat Wave". Sustaining. Why is "The Heat Wave," a burlesque dancer wearing a golden mask? Marlowe's been hired to find out. Murder tries a strip tease! Barney Phillips, Byron Kane, Ed Begley, Elsie Holmes, Gene Levitt (writer), Gerald Mohr, Mel Dinelli (writer), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Raymond Chandler (creator), Richard Aurandt (music), Robert Mitchell (writer), Roy Rowan (announcer), Vivi Janis, Wilms Herbert. 29:41.

151. The FBI In Peace & War - The Eighty Grand Exit (10-27-54)
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The Eighty Grand Exit (Aired October 27, 1954)
The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book, The FBI in Peace and War. The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins. It aired on CBS from November 25, 1944 to September 28, 1958, it had a variety of sponsors (including Lava Soap, Wildroot Cream-Oil, Lucky Strike, Nescafe and Wrigley's) over the years. In 1955 it was the eighth most popular show on radio, as noted in Time: The Nielsen ratings of the top ten radio shows seemed to indicate that not much has changed in radio: 1) Jack Benny Show (CBA), 2) Amos 'n' Andy (CBS), 3) People Are Funny (NBC), 4) Our Miss Brooks (CBS) 5) Lux Radio Theater (NBC), 6) My Little Margie (CBS), 7) Dragnet (NBC), 8) FBI in Peace and War (CBS), 9) Bergen and McCarthy (CBS), 10) Groucho Marx (NBC). Martin Blaine and Donald Briggs headed the cast. The theme was the March from Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges.

THIS EPISODE: October 27, 1954. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Eighty-Grand Exit". A large embezzlement that's foolproof...except for the double-cross. Frederick L. Collins (creator). 25 minutes.

152. Front Page Drama - 2 Episodes (04-04-41) (04-11-41)
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Description:

"Twenty Days Of Terror" (04-04-41) and "Escape In The Night" (04-11-41)
Front Page Drama ran from the early 1930's through the 1950's and was a popular show sponsored by The American Weekly Magazine. The episodes were adapted from stories that appeared in the magazine. Paul W. Keyes, an Emmy Award winner, got his start on Hearst Radio as producer and director of Front Page Drama. He went on to write and produce Dean Martin's "Laugh-In" show and was a consultant for Richard Nixon.

TODAY'S SHOW: April 4, 1941. Program #415. Hearst syndication. "Twenty Days Of Terror". Sponsored by: The American Weekly. The story will appear in The American Weekly under the title, "When The Yankee Clipper Ruled The Seven Seas." The program concludes with an over-dramatized story of forest preservation for defense. The format is identical to that of "The Shadow, but the name is not used. The voice on the filter mike sounds like Orson Welles. Gerald Mohr, Dave Landers (author), Orson Welles (?). 14:17.

April 11, 1941. Program #416. Hearst syndication. "Escape In The Night". Sponsored by: The American Weekly. The story will appear in The American Weekly under the title, "Lady Howard's Mysterious Arrest By The English Secret Agents." Gerald Mohr. 14:41.

153. The Abbott & Costello Show - Guest The Great Gildersleeve (01-20-44)
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Guest The Great Gildersleeve (Aired January 20, 1944)
The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (usually, by singers such as Connie Haines, Marilyn Maxwell, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Skinnay Ennis, and the Les Baxter Singers). Regulars and semi-regulars on the show included Artie Auerbrook, Elvia Allman, Iris Adrian, Mel Blanc, Wally Brown, Sharon Douglas, Verna Felton, Sidney Fields, Frank Nelson, Martha Wentworth, and Benay Venuta. Ken Niles was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott & Costello's mishaps (and often fuming in character as Costello insulted his on-air wife routinely); he was succeeded by Michael Roy, with annoncing chores also handled over the years by Frank Bingman and Jim Doyle. The show went through several orchestras during its radio life, including those of Ennis, Charles Hoff, Matty Matlock, Jack Meaking, Will Osborne, Freddie Rich, Leith Stevens, and Peter van Steeden. The show's writers included Howard Harris, Hal Fimberg, Parke Levy, Don Prindle, Ed Cherokee, Len Stern, Martin Ragaway, Paul Conlan, and Ed Forman, as well as producer Martin Gosch. Sound effects were handled mostly by Floyd Caton. Abbott and Costello moved the show to ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) five years after they premiered on NBC. During their ABC period they also hosted a 30-minute children's radio program(The Abbott and Costello Children's Show), which aired Saturday mornings with vocalist Anna Mae Slaughter and announcer Johnny McGovern.

THIS EPISODE: January 20, 1944. Red network, KFI, Los Angeles aircheck. Sponsored by: Camels, Prince Albert Tobacco. Costello takes on "The Great Gildersleeve," on and off the fottball field. Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Harold Peary, Elvia Allman, Arthur Q. Bryan, Ken Niles (announcer), Freddie Rich and His Orchestra, Connie Haines. 29:19.

154. Your's Truly Johnny Dollar - The Missing Masterpiece (03-28-50)
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The Missing Masterpiece (Aired March 28, 1950)
For over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar". Terry Salomonson in his authoritative "A Radio Broadcast Log of the Drama Program Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar", notes that the original working title was "Yours Truly, Lloyd London". Salomonson writes "Lloyd London was scratched out of the body of (the Dick Powell) audition script and Johnny Dollar was written in. Thus the show was re-titled on this script and the main character was renamed. Why this was done was unclear – possibly to prevent a legal run-in with Lloyd’s of London Insurance Company." Although based in Hartford, Connecticut, the insurance capital of the world, freelancer Johnny Dollar managed to get around quite a bit – his adventures taking him all over the world.

THIS EPISODE: March 28, 1950. CBS network. "The Missing Masterpiece". Sustaining. A $250,000 painting is stolen from a failing Boston art gallery. Possibly recorded March 23, 1950. Edmond O'Brien, Charles McGraw, Walter Burke, Lillian Buyeff, Robert Griffin, James Nusser, Joan Banks, Tyler McVey, Leith Stevens (music), Gil Doud (writer), Paul Dudley (writer), Jaime del Valle (producer, director). 29:01.

155. The Mysterious Traveler - The Man From Singapore (04-04-50)
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The Man From Singapore (Aired April 4, 1950)
Written and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan, the series began on the Mutual Broadcasting System, December 5, 1943, continuing in many different timeslots until September 16, 1952. Unlike many other shows of the era, The Mysterious Traveler was without a sponsor for its entire run. The lonely sound of a distant locomotive heralded the arrival of the malevolent narrator, portrayed by Maurice Tarplin, who introduced himself each week in the following manner. This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves and be comfortable -- if you can! Cast members included Jackson Beck, Lon Clark, Roger DeKoven, Elspeth Eric, Wendell Holmes, Bill Johnstone, Joseph Julian, Jan Miner, Santos Ortega, Bryna Raeburn, Frank Readick, Ann Shepherd, Lawson Zerbe and Bill Zuckert. Sound effects were by Jack Amrhein, Jim Goode, Ron Harper, Walt McDonough and Al Schaffer.

THIS EPISODE: April 4, 1950. Program #249. Mutual network. "The Man From Singapore". Sustaining. Two schemers kill their ex-partner in Hawaii, planning the perfect crime. Robert A. Arthur (writer, producer, director), David Kogan (writer, producer, director), Grace Gotham (?), John Gibson, Luis Van Rooten, Al Fanelli (composer, conductor), Bob Emerick (announcer). 29:37.

156. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Straight Arrow" - Stage From Calvaydos (05-06-48)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Straight Arrow" - Stage From Calvaydos (Aired May 6, 1948)
Straight Arrow was the story of Steve Adams, a young man of Commanche decent who was taken in by a ranching family and raised as a white man. In early adulthood, Steve was told an indian legend about a fabulous warrior who would someday appear to save his people. He himself was to fulfill that destiny, riding out of his secret cave astride a magnificent golden horse. May 16, 1948 to June 21, 1951. Initially west coast Don Lee Network. 30 minutes, Thursdays at 8:00PM, Pacific Time. Mutual Network, coast to cost from February 7, 1949. 30 minutes, Mondays at 8:00PM until January 30, 1950.Often augmented by early evening broadcasts, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5, this becoming it's standard time in 1950-51.Nabisco was the sponsor throughout the series. STARS: Howard Culver as Steve Adams/Straight Arrow, Fred Howard DIRECTOR: Ted Robertson WRITER: Sheldon Stark SOUND EFFECTS: Tom Hanley, Ray Kemper. The announcer and narrator was Frank Bingman. Steve Adams was a rancher, who in times of trouble, became the commanche warrior Straight Arrow. Fred Howard as his sidekick, grizzled ranch hand Packy McCloud. Gwen Delano as Mesquite Molly.

THIS EPISODE: May 6, 1948. Mutual-Don Lee network. Sponsored by: Nabisco Shredded Wheat (palomino colt premium). "Stage From Calvaydos" . Randy Culver seems to have robbed the stage to Calvado. He was framed, but it will take Straight Arrow to prove him innocent. Howard Culver, Fred Howard, Sheldon Stark (writer). 29:59.

157. I Was Communist For The FBI - The Sleeper (02-04-53)
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The Sleeper (Aired February 4, 1953)
I Was a Communist for the FBI was an American espionage thriller radio series with 78 episodes syndicated by Ziv to more than 600 stations in 1952-54. Made without FBI cooperation, the series was adapted from the book by undercover agent Matt Cvetic, who was portrayed by Dana Andrews.The series was crafted to warn people about the threat of Communist subversion of American society. The tone of the show is very jingoistic and ultra-patriotic. Communists are evil incarnate and the FBI can do no wrong. As a relic of the Joe McCarthy era, this show is a time capsule of American society during the Second Red Scare.

THIS EPISODE: February 4, 1953. Program #42. ZIV Syndication. "The Sleeper". Commercials added locally. The wife of a well-known congressman is blackmailed by the Party. The date is subject to correction. Dana Andrews, Truman Bradley (announcer). 1/2 hour.

158. Adventures In Research - 2 Episodes (08-20-46) (08-27-46)
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"The First American Patent" (08-20-46)) and "Typewriter History" (08-27-46)
The series began about 1942 and were distributed, probably as a public service educational feature, for weekly programming. The early shows were discussions with Paul Shannon asking the questions, Dr. Phillips Thomas (research physicist for Westinghouse, specializing in electronics) answering the questions. The later programs were written by Dr. Thomas, but were dramatizations instead of the Q and A fomat. The programs themselves present a fascinating look at the state of scientific knowledge during the war and the immediate post-war years. Many of the topics are hopelessly outdated, a surprising number are still up to date and reflect the state of knowledge about the subject many years later. The purpose of instilling an interest in science in the general public is still as valid now as it was then. Even more important, the program themselves are good radio and interesting. Those listeners with little or no interest in science will still be captivated. The post-war programs feature an organist whose efforts range from mediocre to absolutely great!

TODAY'S SHOW:

Program #187. Westinghouse syndication. "The First American Patent". Sustaining. The building of the first water-powered saw mill in America, the holder of patent number one. . 15 minutes.

Program #188. Westinghouse syndication. "Typewriter History". Sustaining. The history of the typewriter and the man who invented it, Christopher Latham Sholes. . 15 minutes.

159. The Caltex Theater - Detectives Are Not Always Right (12-11-55)
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Detectives Are Not Always Right (Aired December 11, 1955)
The Caltex Theater was an Australian show similar to the American Lux Radio Theater. It was sponsored by the Caltex Oil Company. Mostly the radio shows were adapted from top movies from the time period. The show aired from 1950 - 1959. There is little else known about the series but the presentation is first-class.

160. The Haunting Hour - No Escape - (11-01-48)
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No Escape - (Aired November 1, 1948)
The shows are classic chills from the old school, with creepy organ, overwrought women and over the top men. Perhaps not the highest of melodrama, but obsessively workmanlike. After all, they might have known they were a skeleton staff toiling relentlessly without a ghost of a chance of fame. Thanks to transcription, these unknowns are still with us. John Dunning, succinctly states in "On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio," "There were no credits, so casts and production crews are unknown."

THIS EPISODE: November 1, 1948. Program #29. NBC syndication. "No Escape". Commercials added locally. A good, if somewhat predictable, story about a murdered wife who becomes alive again. . 27:26.

161. The Milton Berle Show - Salute To Football (11-04-47)
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Description:

Salute To Football (Aired November 4, 1947)
In 1948, NBC decided to bring Texaco Star Theater from radio to television, with Berle as one of the show's four rotating hosts. For the fall season, NBC named Berle the permanent host. His highly visual, sometimes outrageous vaudeville style proved ideal for the burgeoning new medium. Berle and Texaco owned Tuesday nights for the next several years, reaching the number one slot in the Nielsen ratings and keeping it, with as much as an 80% share of the recorded viewing audience. Berle and the show each won Emmy Awards after the first season. Berle is credited for the huge spike in the sale of TV sets during the medium's early years. After Berle's show began, set sales more than doubled, reaching two million in 1949. His stature as the medium's first superstar earned Berle the sobriquet "Mr. Television." He also earned a slightly more familiar nickname after ending a 1949 broadcast with a brief ad lib remark to children watching the show: "Listen to your Uncle Miltie and go to bed."

162. The Burns & Allen Show - Guest Brian Donlevy (01-19-43)
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Guest Brian Donlevy (January 19, 1943)
Burns and Allen are one of the most beloved couple in old time radio. They got started, like many of the greats of old time radio, in vaudeville, which is really just the touring popular entertainment in America prior to movies. Gracie was the sparkplug of the act, always the center of attention. George played the foil, the guy vainly trying to make sense of the ditzy world of Gracie. By the early 30s, Gracie was probably the best known woman on radio. Gracie often sang in a voice that showed she was also an excellent comedienne songstress. The shows had names after the sponsors, such as Maxwell House Coffee Time, or The Ammident Show - it was the Burns and Allen show to the public. Other fine radio actors were a part of the fun. Mel Blanc did the happy postman, and was also famous for his zany characters on The Jack Benny Show, and his own Mel Blanc Show. Elliott Lewis, a veteran of many radio dramas, played many of the bit parts on the Burns and Allen shows of the 40s. Burns & Allen were touring England in 1929 when they made their first radio appearance on the BBC. Gracie Allen died on August 27, 1964. George Burns died on March 9, 1996.

THIS EPISODE: January 19, 1943. CBS network. Sponsored by: Swan Soap. George forgets his anniversary which leads Gracie to attempt to make him jealous. Brian Donlevy is a special guest and the subject of her attempts. George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bill Goodwin, Paul Whitman and His Orchestra, Jimmy Cash, The Swantet.

163. Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone" - Tracks Out Of Tombstone (03-02-58)
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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone" - Tracks Out Of Tombstone (Aired March 2, 1958)
CBS started the year 1958 off with the introduction on January 1, 1958 of Frontier Gentleman. That series lasted 41 broadcasts. Near the end of the year, the network launched Have Gun, Will Travel on November 11, 1958, which continued for 106 programs. In between, a very short series was offered and discontinued after only 16 broadcasts, Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone. Sam Buffington starred as Luke Slaughter, a Civil War cavalryman who turned to cattle ranching in post war Arizona territory near Fort Huachuca. William N. Robson, known from his work with such series as Escape, Suspense and The CBS Radio Workshop, directed. Sam Buffington enacted the title role on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, another of CBS's prestigious adult Westerns. The series was produced and directed by William N. Robson, one of radio's greatest dramatic directors and Robert Stanley producer was aired from February 23 through June 15, 1958. Buffington portrayed the hard-boiled cattleman with scripts overseen by Gunsmoke sound effects artist (and sometimes scriptwriter) Tom Hanley.

THIS EPISODE: March 2, 1958. CBS network. Sustaining. Luke has a run-in with the sheriff of Tombstone, who accuses him of sheltering a fugitive named Ralston. After Luke's cattle money is stolen by Ralston, Luke joins the sheriff's posse to track him down. This is a network, quality upgrade. Sam Buffington, Jack Moyles, Sam Edwards, Junius Matthews, Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin, Frank Gerstle, Robert Stanley (writer), William N. Robson (director), Tom Hanley (editorial supervisor), Wilbur Hatch (composer, conductor). 24:47..

164. General Mills Radio Adventure Theater - Master Thief (07-03-77)
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Master Thief (Aired July 3, 1977)
The series had it origins in the meeting of two minds: the ad agency for General Mills at the time, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample was looking for a different means to reach a child audience besides television, which was decreasing commercial minutes and increasing costs; and Himan Brown, producer-director of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, who wanted to introduce new audiences to the dramatic form on radio. Tom Bosley was chosen as the host because of his television recognition from a kid’s oriented series, Happy Days. CBS chose to produce 52 original broadcasts followed by 52 repeat broadcasts. I believe they had hoped to maintain General Mills sponsorship during the complete 104 episodes, but General Mills dropped their sponsorship after the original broadcasts. The series continued for the next 52 repeats as the CBS Radio Adventure Theater.

THIS EPISODE: July 3, 1977. Program #44. CBS network. "The Master Thief". Sponsored by: General Mills. The program was repeated on December 31, 1977 as, "The CBS Radio Adventure Theater." Tom Bosley (host), Jacob Grimm (author), Wilhelm Grimm (author), G. Frederic Lewis (adaptor), Paul Hecht, William Griffis, Himan Brown (producer, director).

165. Danger Dr. Danfield - Death Paints A Picture (10-20-46)
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Death Paints A Picture (Aired October 20, 1946)
Danger, Dr Danfield was first broadcast on August 18, 1946, the last one being April 13, 1947. All episodes are available. It starred Michael Dunn as Dr. Danfield, with JoAnne Johnson as Rusty Fairfax, his secretary. The series was written by Ralph Wilkinson and produced by Wally Ramsey. The show had a formula with the crime usually being committed in the first third of the program, the good doctor solving it in the second third, and then pedantically explaining the solution to someone (usually his "pretty, young" secretary, Rusty) in the conclusion. Dr. Daniel Danfield was an obnoxious unlicensed private investigator/criminal psychologist with an ego complex. Why Rusty would put up with this guy is beyond understanding. In this case, love is not only blind, but also deaf and dumb. But then, Rusty was no prize package either. In fact, the most complex person on the show is Dr. Dan Danfield's pretty young secretary, Miss Rusty Fairfax.

THIS EPISODE: October 20, 1946. Program #10. ABC network origination, Teleways Radio Productions syndication. "Death Paints A Picture". Commercials added locally. The program is listed as #10 on the label, #12 on the transcription matrix. An eccentric artist in Death Valley is murdered. His painting of a dead cow has been stolen! Michael Dunn, Joanne Johnson. 24:54.

166. Secrets Of Scotland Yard - Story Of Walter Miller (1944)
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Story Of Walter Miller (1944)
The Secrets of Scotland Yardwas a successful crime drama series, initially airing internationally between 1949 and 1951. Selected episodes finally came to a US radio network for a brief run much later in 1957 over the Mutual Broadcasting System. The series boasted well over 100 episodes, one of which, "The Bone From A Voice Box", apparently served as the prototype for another well remembered Towers Of London dramatic series, The Black Museum. In both series, well known actors were employed as host / narrator, Orson Welles in The Black Museum and Clive Brook here. In fact, the shows were so similar that some of the same actual Scotland Yard cases were dramatized for both series (with totally different scripts, and casts). The Secrets of Scotland Yard was an independent production of the Towers of London syndicate in England for world wide distribution. Each week, an audience of anxious radio-listeners tuned in to hear these true crime stories of the London Metropolitan Police unfold, as the detectives at the Yard investigated some of England’s most famous criminals. Their trials have become legendary.

THIS EPISODE: Program #94. Towers Of London syndication. Commercials added locally. Walter Miller kills two and has a fine night out on the town, then cheerfully pays for his crimes. Postwar. Clive Brook (host). 1/2 hour.

167. Barry Craig Confidential Investigator - Murder By Error (07-13-54)
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Murder By Error (Aired July 13, 1954)
Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator is one of the few detective radio series that had separate versions of it broadcast from both coasts. Even the spelling changed over the years. It was first "Barry Crane" and then "Barrie Craig". NBC produced it in New York from 1951 to 1954 and then moved it to Hollywood where it aired from 1954 to 1955. It attracted only occasional sponsors so it was usually a sustainer.William Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye BARRY CRAIG while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a speciality."Like Sam Spade, Craig narrated his stories, in addition to being the leading character in this 30 minute show. Nearly sixty episodes are in trading circulation today.

THIS EPISODE: July 13, 1954. NBC network. "Murder By Error". Sustaining. The husband of a beautiful woman is being blackmailed for $10,000 by a strange looking midget. The case soon leads to diamond smuggling and murder! The system cue has been deleted. Arthur Jacobson (director), Edward King (announcer), Herb Vigran, William Gargan, John Roeburt (writer), Jeanne Bates, Herb Ellis, Hal Gerard, Julie Bennett. 29:17.

168. The Diary Of Fate - Darrell James Entry (08-10-48)
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Darrell James Entry (Aired August 10, 1948)
Diary of Fate is a mystery and horror program where “Fate” narrates and always wins by the end of the story. These are great suspense filled stories about average people who are subject to the mysteries of their ‘Fate’. In This episode, August 10, 1948. Program #35. Finley syndication. "Darrell James". Commercials added locally. Book and page not indicated. Not auditioned, A young man succeeds on Wall Street, with the help of murder. The date is subject to correction. Herb Lytton, Virginia Gregg, Joe Forte, Byron Kane, Ray Ehrlenborn, James Murphy, Hal Sawyer, Larry Finley (producer). 27:00.

169. Dangerously Assignment - Hired Killer (08-16-50)
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Description:

Hired Killer (Aired August 16, 1950)
This thirty-minute international spy adventure featured Steve Mitchell (Brian Donlevy), and investigator of crimes in exotic locations. 60 episodes. Herb Butterfield played the Commissioner and Betty Moran was the Commissioner's secretary. Other cast members were GeGe Pearson, Ken Peters, Betty Lou Gerson, Dan O’Herlihy. The director was Bill Cairn and the writer for the series was Robert Ryf. The opening was the same every week “Yeah, danger is my assignment. I get sent to a lot of places I can’t even pronounce. They all spell the same thing though, trouble.” He would be summoned to his boss’s office where he would be given his assignment; he would then fly halfway across the globe to save the day! The worldwide locations are dealt up with a feeling of local, and the characters that inhabit these far-away places with strange sounding names are solid and capably acted by veterans. Music is an almost harsh orchestra. Donlevy carries the plots with a world-weary and wary tone that makes sense, based on his occupation.

170. Mail Call - Victor Borge Entertains The Troops (1945)
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Description:

Victor Borge Entertains The Troops (1945)
Mail Call - Command Performance became the first of these, when it was produced for the first time on March 1, 1942. On May 26, 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Services was formally established. Originally, its programming comprised network radio shows with the commercials removed. However, it soon began producing other original programming, such as Mail Call, G.I. Journal, Jubilee, and G.I. Jive. At its peak in 1945, the Service produced around twenty hours of original programming each week. Mail Call was primarily played to the American soldiers of WWII and featured an amazing array of celebrities. Some of the best and brightest stars of radio came out to entertain our men in uniform when they needed it most.

171. The Green Hornet - A Soldier And His Dog (02-19-46)
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A Soldier And His Dog (Aired February 19, 1946)
The Green Hornet program began in January of 1936 and played to December 5, 1952. The shows typically ran thirty minutes and ran twice a week in the beginning years. They later reverted to being broadcast once a week. The last season of the show in 1952 the show reverted back to a twice a week schedule. Al Hodge played the role of Britt Reid for seven years. Fran Striker, a co-creator of the Lone Ranger, wrote all of the scripts for the Green Hornet until April 1944. After that, several other writers were brought in to script the show. The writing output of Fran Striker was incredible. While he was scripting the Green Hornet he was also writing the scripts for the Lone Ranger program. Following Al Hodge, three other radio actors played Britt Reid. Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season. Robert Hall played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946. Jack McCarthy finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952. Thus ended a tremendous 16-year radio program full of action, high-speed chases, and the overcoming of evil by the Green Hornet.

THIS EPISODE: February 16, 1946. ABC network origination,Michelson syndication, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "A Soldier and His Dog". Sponsored by: American Motors. Bill Mercer, stationed in the Aleutian Islands, impersonates a wealthy fellow soldier. Buster, his police dog, is a lot smarter than many humans! Syndicated rebroadcast date: May 30, 1973. Jack McCarthy (commercial spokesman). 29:32.

172. Hermit's Cave - House Of Murder (1940)
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House Of Murder (1940)
The Hermit's cave Ghost stories ... weird stories ... of murder, too ... the Hermit knows them all. Horror stories with Mel Johnson and howling wolves (or dogs with indigestion?) in the background, obliterating some of the introduction. This syndicated show was one of the treats for the kiddies, cuddled up to their hollow-state radio sets to keep warm in Detroit, between 1940 and 1944. The show was also heard in Beverly Hills, CA in 1943-1944, a radio horror anthology series, syndicated by WJR Detroit in the mid-1930s, sponsored by Olga Coal after the first two years. As the wind howled, the ancient Hermit narrated his horror fantasies from his cave. The cackling character of the Hermit was played by John Kent, Charles Penman, Toby Grimmer, and Klock Ryder. William Conrad produced when the show moved to KMPC Los Angeles with Mel Johnson as the Hermit (1940-42), followed by John Dehner (1942-44).

THIS EPISODE: World syndication (?). "The House Of Murder". Sponsored by: Commercials deleted or added locally. A man's housekeeper abruptly quits because the man's new house in the country is haunted! The spirit of the woman who hanged herself in the house wrecks a scientific experiment...and then kills the new owner of the house! . 24:45.

173. Mystery In The Air - The Black Cat (09-18-47)
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The Black Cat (Aired September 18, 1947)
Mystery In The Ai is cut from the cloth of tales woven by the imaginations of some of the most famous authors in history, Mystery In the Air was a Summer series consisting of mystery / horror shows. The series was hosted by Peter Lorre who also played the title role in a few of the shows and brings these brilliant horror classics to life spooktacularly, as no other could. Peter Lorre was one of the most popular horror stars of the forties, and with a supporting cast including such greats as Agnes Moorehead, Howard Culver, Lurene Tuttle, Joseph Kearns and Ken Christy, the production was destined to be a success. This collection can also be found included in the Peter Lorre Collection.

THIS EPISODE: September 18, 1947. NBC network. "The Black Cat". Sponsored by: Camels, Prince Albert. The program is preceded by a news bulletin about a Gulf states hurricane. The classic tale about the man who kills his wife and hides her body behind a brick wall. A feline nemesis! Edgar Allan Poe (author), Paul Baron (composer, conductor), Peter Lorre, Don Bernard (producer), Cal Kul (director), Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Kearns. 29:24.

174. The Life Of Riley - Wrestling Matches & Lies (02-21-48)
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Wrestling Matches & Lies (Aired February 21, 1948)
The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, was a popular radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film and continued as a long-running television series during the 1950s. The show began as a proposed Groucho Marx radio series, The Flotsam Family, but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for the comedian. Then producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in the movie The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). The Flotsam Family was reworked with Bendix cast as blundering Chester A. Riley, riveter at a California aircraft plant, and his frequent exclamation of indignation---"What a revoltin' development this is!"---became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker."

THIS EPISODE: February 21, 1948. NBC network. Sponsored by: Prell Shampoo, Ivory Snow. You should always tell the truth. Riley has been to the Wrestling Matches, And Lies to Peg about going! William Bendix, Irving Brecher (producer), Alan Lipscott (writer), Reuben Ship (writer), Ken Niles (announcer), Lou Coslowe (music), Tommy Cook, Paula Winslowe, John Brown. 29:21.

175. The Shadow - Terror At Wolf’s Head Knoll (02-15-48)
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Terror At Wolf’s Head Knoll (Aired February 15, 1948)
One of the most popular radio shows in history debuted in August 1930 when "The Shadow" went on the air. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The opening lines of the "Detective Story" program captivated listeners and are instantly recognizable even today. Originally the narrator of the series of macabre tales, the eerie voice known as The Shadow became so popular to listeners that "Detective Story" was soon renamed "The Shadow," and the narrator became the star of the old-time mystery radio series, which ran until 1954. A figure never seen, only heard, the Shadow was an invincible crime fighter. He possessed many gifts which enabled him to overcome any enemy. Besides his tremendous strength, he could defy gravity, speak any language, unravel any code, and become invisible with his famous ability to "cloud men's minds."

THIS EPISODE: February 15, 1948. Mutual network. "The Terror At Wolf's Head Knoll". Sponsored by: Blue Coal. A mad surgeon murders, kidnaps, and decides to "operate" on poor Margo. Andre Baruch (announcer), Bret Morrison, Grace Matthews, Peter Barry (writer). 1/2 hour.

176. Inner Sanctum Mysteries - The Dead Walk At Night (09-20-42)
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Description:

The Dead Walk At Night (Aired September 20, 1942)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries was a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952. Created by Himan Brown, the anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense. The tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. A total of 526 episodes are known to have been produced. The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreeeammsss?!" His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, from fellow radio hosts like Ernest Chappell (on Cooper's later series, Quiet, Please) and Maurice Tarplin (on The Mysterious Traveler) to EC Comics' Crypt-Keeper in various incarnations of Tales from the Crypt. In interviews, EC publisher Bill Gaines stated that he based EC's three horror hosts not on Raymond but on Old Nancy, host of radio's earlier The Witch's Tale (1931-38). When Johnson left the series in 1946, he was replaced by Paul McGrath, who did not keep the "Raymond" name and was known only as "your host" or "Mr. Host." Beginning in 1945, Lipton Tea sponsored the series, pairing first Raymond and then McGrath with cheery commercial spokeswoman Mary Bennett, whose blithesome pitches for Lipton tea contrasted sharply with the macabre themes of the stories, and who primly chided the host for his trademark dark humor and creepy manner.

THIS EPISODE: September 20, 1942, 1952. CBS network, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Dead Walk At Night". The tap...tap...tap...of a blind man's cane drives a young man to murder. The script was later used on "Inner Sanctum" on September 28. Donald Buka, Paul McGrath (host), Milton Lewis (writer). 23 minutes.

177. The Story Of Dr. Kildare - Mr. Bradley's Heart (11-17-50)
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Mr. Bradley's Heart (Aired November 17, 1950)
Dr. James Kildare was a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show. The character was invented by the author Frederick Schiller Faust (aka Max Brand). The character began in the film series as a medical intern; after becoming a doctor he was mentored by an older physician, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. After the first ten films, the series eliminated the character of Kildare and focused instead on Gillespie. In the summer of 1949, MGM reunited Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore to record the radio series, The Story of Dr. Kildare, scripted by Les Crutchfield, Jean Holloway and others. After broadcasts on WMGM New York from February 1, 1950 to August 3, 1951, the series was syndicated to other stations during the 1950s. The supporting cast included Ted Osborne as hospital administrator Dr. Carough, Jane Webb as nurse Mary Lamont and Virginia Gregg as Nurse Parker, labeled "Nosy Parker" by Gillespie, with appearances by William Conrad, Stacy Harris, Jay Novello, Isabel Jewell and Jack Webb.

THIS EPISODE: November 17, 1950. Program #43. WMGM, New York City-Mutual net origination, MGM syndication. Commercials added locally. Mr. Bradley, an overworked businessman, has a badly damaged heart and needs a rare operation. The date is approximate. Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Les Crutchfield (writer), William P. Rousseau (director), Walter Schumann (composer, conductor), Virginia Gregg, Georgia Ellis, Wilms Herbert, Vic Perrin, Dick Joy (announcer). 29:13.

178. My Friend Irma - Fake Fur Coat (06-13-47)
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Fake Fur Coat (Aired June 13, 1947)
In 1947 Marie Wilson starred in the radio sitcom "," throughout its radio run, in a 1952-54 television series and in two films that introduced the new comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Her open, grinning face belying her age, Wilson continued doing her dumb-blonde act into the 1960s, starring in summer stock and dinner-theater productions of Born Yesterday and appearing in commercials. Marie Wilson's last TV assignment was a voice-over role in the 1970 animated cartoon series Where's Huddles?; two years later, she died of cancer at the age of 56. Marie Wilson is, of course, Irma Peterson. The "friend" narrator Jane is played by Cathy Lewis (wife of Elliot Lewis, "Remley" on Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show). John Brown is Irma's boyfriend Al. Professor Kropotkin is played by the hilarious Hans Conreid. Irma's boss, Mr. Clyde, is played by Alan Reed.

THIS EPISODE: June 13, 1947. CBS network. "The Fur Coat". Sustaining. Irma's fur coat. Easy come, easy go! Alan Reed (?), Cathy Lewis, Cy Howard (writer, producer, director), Hans Conried, Irene Tedrow, John Brown, Lud Gluskin and His Orchestra, Marie Wilson, Maurie Webster (announcer), Parke Levy (writer), Stanley Adams (writer), Terry O'Sullivan, The Sportsmen. 29:21.

179. Nick Carter Master Detective - Midway Murders (08-01-48)
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Midway Murders (Aired August 1, 1948)
Nick Carter, Master Detective - Nick Carter is the name of a popular fictional detective who first appeared in in a dime novel entitled "The Old Detective's Pupil" on September 18, 1886. In 1915, Nick Carter Weekly became Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer. The series ended on September 25, 1955. Chick Carter, Boy Detective was a serial adventure that aired weekday afternoons on Mutual. Chick Carter, the adopted son of Nick Carter, was played by Bill Lipton (1943-44) and Leon Janney (1944-45). The series aired from July 5, 1943 to July 6, 1945.

THIS EPISODE: August 1, 1948. Mutual network. "The Case Of The Midway Murders". Sponsored by: Old Dutch Cleanser, Del Rich Margarine. An escaped convict, a roller coaster corpse, and an enraged ape (Gorilla My Dreams?). Lon Clark. 1/2 hour.

180. The Halls Of Ivy - Traffic & Cocoanuts (04-21-50)
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Traffic & Cocoanuts (Aired April 21, 1950)
The Halls of Ivy was an NBC radio sitcom that ran from 1950-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy (1954-55) produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. Quinn developed the show after he had decided to leave Fibber McGee & Molly. The audition program featured radio veteran Gale Gordon (then co-starring in Our Miss Brooks) and Edna Best in the roles that ultimately went to British husband-and-wife actors Ronald Colman and Benita Hume. The Colmans had shown a flair for radio comedy in recurring roles on The Jack Benny Program in the late 1940s, and they landed the title roles in the new show. The Halls of Ivy featured Colman as William Todhunter Hall, the president of small, Midwestern Ivy College, and his wife, Victoria, a former British musical comedy star who sometimes felt the tug of her former profession, and followed their interactions with students, friends and college trustees. Others in the cast included Herbert Butterfield as testy Clarence Wellman, Willard Waterman (then starring as Harold Peary's successor as The Great Gildersleeve) as John Merriweather, and Elizabeth Patterson and Gloria Gordon as the Halls' maid.

THIS EPISODE: April 21, 1950. Traffic & Cocoanuts - NBC network. Sponsored by: Schlitz Beer. Dr. Hall isn't feeling well and Victoria is off to the drugstore. Memories of his courtship are sparked by a record of his wife singing. The date is subject to correction. Benita Hume, Don Quinn (creator, writer), Eric Snowden, Henry Russell (composer, conductor), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Nat Wolff (director), Ronald Colman, Willard Waterman. 29:20.

181. Authors Playhouse - The Mysterious Stranger (07-14-44)
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The Mysterious Stranger (Aired July 14, 1944)
Author’s Playhouse - Famous stories by celebrated authors: among them, Elementals (Stephen Vincent Benet), The Piano (William Saroyan), and The Snow Goose (Paul Gallico).March 5, 1941 till June 4, 1945, NBC; Blue Network until mid-October 1941, then the Red Network. Many briefly held 30m timeslots, including Sundays at 11:30, 1941-42; Wednesdays at 11:30, 1942-44; Mondays at 11:30, 1944-45. Sponsor was Philip Morris, 1942-43. Cast: John Hodiak, Fern Persons, Arthur Kohl, Laurette Fillbrandt, Kathryn Card, Bob Jellison, Nelson Olmsted, Marvin Miller, Olan Soule, Les Tremayne, Clarence Hartzell, Curley Bradley, etc. Orchestra: Rex Maupin, Roy Shield, J6seph Gallicchio. Creator: Wynn Wright. Directors: Norman Felton, Fred Weihe, Homer Heck, etc.

THIS EPISODE: July 14, 1944. NBC network. "The Mysterious Stranger". Sustaining. A fantasy about a boy who gets out of a sick bed of a day on the town with a strange yet somehow familiar man. Zachary Gold (writer). 1/2 hour.

182. Cloak & Dagger - Direct Line To Bombers (06-25-50)
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Direct Line To Bombers (Aired June 25, 1950)
"Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission for the United States, knowing in advance you may never return alive?" Cloak and Dagger first aired over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the Summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its Summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. This is the story of the WWII special governmental agency, the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services. Its mission was to develop and maintain spy networks throughout Europe and into Asia, while giving aid to underground partisan groups and developing espionage activities for Allied forces overseas.The show is based on the book of the same name by Lt. Col. Corey Ford and Major Alastair MacBain (who were associated with the OSS from its early days.) The dramas are not Hollywood-style, in that they sometimes end with plans foiled or leading characters dead.

THIS EPISODE: June 25, 1950. NBC network. "Direct Line To Bombers". Sustaining. 4:00 P. M. Two spies for the O. S. S. enter Berlin with walkie talkies to guide Allied bombers attacking the city. Lily Darvas, Berry Kroeger, Michael Artist, Karl Weber, Jerry Jarrett, Bobby Weil, Brad Barker, Winifred Wolfe (writer), Jack Gordon (writer), Corey Ford (originator), Alistair MacBain (originator), Alfred Hollander (producer), Sherman Marks (director, supervisor), William Zuckert, Everett Sloane, Raymond Edward Johnson, Jon Gart (music director), Louis G. Cowan (producer). 29:28.

183. The Bickersons - Two Episodes From 1947
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Two Episodes "The New Puppy" and "The Movie" (1947)*The Exact Dates Are Unknown
The Bickersons was an American radio comedy program that aired from 1946 to 1951. Born as a recurring skit on The Chase and Sanborn Hour and refined on the lesser-remembered Drene Time variety show, it stood the already-typical domestic presentation of radio and its infant offspring, television, so squarely on its head that there were those who feared the show. The show's married protagonists spent nearly all their time together in relentless verbal war, and many people believed that the show's sourly cynical take on the institution of marriage was more than merely detrimental to the nation's post-World War II health. (The same kind of charges of "detrimental" were later leveled against programs such as Married... with Children and The Simpsons.) The Bickersons was created by Philip Rapp, the one-time Eddie Cantor writer who had also created the Fanny Brice skits (for The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air and Maxwell House Coffee Time) that grew into radio's Baby Snooks. Several years after the latter established itself a long-running favourite, Rapp developed and presented John and Blanche Bickerson, first as a short sketch on The Old Gold Show and The Chase and Sanborn Hour (the show that made stars of Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy), and then as a 15-minute situational sketch as part of Drene Time. This was a variety show starring Don Ameche and singer-actress Frances Langford as co-hosts, airing on NBC and sponsored by Drene Shampoo. Announcing the show—and later familiar to television viewers as The Millionaire's presenter and executive secretary, Michael Anthony—was Marvin Miller. Drene Time typically opened with Langford singing a big band-style arrangement before Ameche and Langford would slip into routine comedy, often aided by co-star (and future Make Room for Daddy star) Danny Thomas, in routines that often hooked around Ameche's frustration that Thomas seemed more interested in modern technology and discoveries than in women.

184. It's A Crime Mr. Collins - Death Wore Green (1956)
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Death Wore Green (1956)
Gail Collins, the wife of famous detective Greg Collins, tells of her adventures as she and her husband travel the world solving crime. She offers her female inside to her friend, Jack. "When your favorite perfume doesn’t put your husband in the mood, wouldn’t you be furious?”“Even though my husband is a famous private detective, I get tired of men throwing bullets at his head and women throwing themselves at his feet”“After all, how would you feel if you if your husband had a fan in San Francisco, but that fan belonged to a fan dancer.” Although the show seemed quite popular, it lasted only one season. Competition was aggresive, the Golden Age of Radio was filled with detective and police stories - stories about licensed (and unlicensed) "private eyes", insurance investigators, police detectives and amateur sleuths.

185. Boston Blackie - The Escaped Prisoner (05-28-46)
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The Escaped Prisoner (May 28, 1946)
The Boston Blackie radio series, also starring Morris, began June 23, 1944, on NBC as a summer replacement for The Amos 'n' Andy Show. Sponsored by Rinso, the series continued until September 15 of that year. Unlike the concurrent films, Blackie had a steady romantic interest in the radio show: Lesley Woods appeared as Blackie's girlfriend Mary Wesley. Harlow Wilcox was the show's announcer. On April 11, 1945, Richard Kollmar took over the title role in a radio series syndicated by Frederic W. Ziv to Mutual and other network outlets. Over 200 episodes of this series were produced between 1944 and October 25, 1950. Other sponsors included Lifebuoy Soap, Champagne Velvet beer, and R&H beer. While investigating mysteries, Blackie invaribly encountered harebrained Police Inspector Farraday (Maurice Tarplin) and always solved the mystery to Farraday's amazement. Initially, friction surfaced in the relationship between Blackie and Farraday, but as the series continued, Farraday recognized Blackie's talents and requested assistance. Blackie dated Mary Wesley (Jan Miner), and for the first half of the series, his best pal Shorty was always on hand. The humorless Farraday was on the receiving end of Blackie's bad puns and word play. Kent Taylor starred in the half-hour TV series, The Adventures of Boston Blackie. Syndicated in 1951 and continuing in repeats over the following decade.

186. Blair Of the Mounties - 2 Episodes From 1938
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"The Goose Lake Robbery" (Aired June 20, 1938) and "Ching Wo At The Landing" (Aired July 11, 1938)
Blair of the Mounties is the story of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police -- a fictional series based on the work of the Northwest Mounted Police before the World War I. It was a fifteen minute weekly serial heard every Monday for 36 weeks beginning January 31st, 1938 and running through the 3rd of October of 1938. It may have been on the air as early as 1935, although there’s no actual proof of this. Little is known of the series other than it followed the exploits of Sgt. Blair of the Northwest Mounted Police. and probably was the inspiration for Trendell, Campbell and Muir's Challenge of the Yukon. The series was written by Colonel Rhys Davies, who also played the Colonel Blair in the series. Jack Abbot played the Constable. Jack French, one of OTR’s best researchers says this about the series: “Blair is not restricted to Canada, as other Mounties, as we find him, in a few cases, in Great Britain, solving cases. Overall the series is amateurishly written, with the actor playing Blair coming accros as a bit stuffy.”

TODAY'S SHOW:

June 20, 1938. Program #21. Walter Biddick syndication. "The Goose Lake Robbery". A gold robbery and a queer Englishman...what's the connection? . 12:54.

July 11, 1938. Program #24. Walter Biddick syndication. "Ching Wo At The Landing". Chin Wo, a stingy Chinaman, has had all his gold dust stolen . 11:59.

187. Top Secret - The Document (10-12-50)
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The Document (Aired October 12, 1950)
The role played by Ilona Massey, a Hungarian-born actress, was created in her likeness, which included her sultry voice and her heavy accent. As a government agent, Massey witnesses train murders, orders poisoned glasses of brandy, and examines the tattoos on a rebellious pigeon. She travels to Tangiers, London, and discovers Nazi spy rings in Berlin. Pack your suitcase, slip into your designer incognito clothiers, and cut your tongue out because Ilona Massey is ready to take you on the top secret mission of a lifetime!6-12-50 to 10-26-50 NBC, various 30 minute timeslots. STAR: Ilona Massey as a Mata Hari-style operative in World War II. ORCHESTRAL: Roy Shield. WRITER-DIRECTOR: Harry W. Junkin. Top secret was highly effective, said Radio Life: the role played by the Hungarian actress was “tailor-made for her sultry voice and heavy accent”

188. Afloat With Henry Morgan - Three Episodes From 1932
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Description:

Episode (08) "Morgan Guarentees His Future Saftey" (09) "Kitty Professes Her Love To Jeffery" (10) "Jeffrey Learns Of Kitty's Whipping".
Afloat with Henry Morgan was a 52 episode Australian series from, it is generally thought - 1933. Each episode was about 12 minutes long and the series was probably aimed at the youth market. It is not to be confused with the US show - 'The Henry Morgan Show'. It was produced by and starred George Edwards, who also produced Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, Corsican Brothers, and Son of Porthos, all Australian series as well. We believe that Maurice Francis, an enthusiastic writer, and Nell Sterling, two of George Edwards long-time collaborators, were also featured in 'Afloat With Henry Morgan'. To save money, Edwards played a variety of different roles and became known as 'the Man With A Thousand Voices'. It was a ventriloquial gift that encompassed small children, every variety of male voice, aged women, and foreigners. The maximum number of voices Edwards produced for a single scene was six; in the course of a single episode he would often double it.

TODAY'S SHOW:THREE EPISODES: (08) Morgan Guarentees His Future Saftey (09) Kitty Professes Her Love to Jeffery (10) Jeffrey Learns of Kitty's Whipping.

189. Suspense - This Will Kill You (08-23-45)
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This Will Kill You (Aired August 23, 1945)
Suspense was one of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (aka old-time radio), and advertised itself as "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." It was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. There were approximately 945 episodes broadcast during its long run, over 900 of which are extant in mostly high-quality recordings. Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors and director/producers. There were a few rules which were followed for all but a handful of episodes: Protagonists were usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation. Evildoers must be punished in the end.

THIS EPISODE: August 23, 1945. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "This Will Kill You". A not-too-bright wartime assembly line worker is jealous of his boss and decides to kill him. The story was subsequently produced on "Suspense" on November 29, 1955. Dane Clark, I. A. Findley (writer), Wally Maher, Joseph Kearns (announcer), Elliott Lewis, William Spier (producer, director, editor), Lucien Moraweck (composer), Lud Gluskin (conductor). 24:02.

190. Ford Theater - The Horn Blows At Midnight (03-04-49)
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The Horn Blows At Midnight (Aired March 4, 1949)
The FORD THEATER, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, presented hour long dramas first on NBC for one only season. The series moved to CBS for its second and last season. There were 39 NBC and 39 CBS hour- long shows (not verified). The show initially received an unfavorable review from the New York Times for poor script adaptation but was still highly rated for the actors' performance and overall production. The show was supposed to feature only original scripts but had to forgo that plan due to lack of quality material. The first season on NBC used radio actors under the direction of George Zachary. Martin Gabel announced the first show but was soon replaced by Kenneth Banghart. The second season, on CBS, used Hollywood screen actors in the lead roles, supported by radio actors. Fletcher Markle, who previously produced CBS's STUDIO ONE series, was the producer for the second season. Although a short series, it still has some of radio's best dramas.

THIS EPISODE: March 4, 1949. CBS network. "The Horn Blows At Midnight". Sponsored by: Ford. The beautiful and funny story of a junior grade angel with a brief but important task on the Earth. Anne Whitfield, Byron Kane, Claude Rains, Cy Feuer (composer, conductor), Edward Marr, Fletcher Markle (producer, director, performer), Frank Martin (announcer), Hans Conried, Herb Vigran, Howard Snyder (writer), Hugh Wedlock (writer), Jack Benny, Jane Morgan, Jay Novello, Jeanette Nolan, Jerry Farber, John McGovern, Joseph Kearns, Julian Upton, Mercedes McCambridge, Miriam Wolfe, Paul McVey, Shirley Mitchell (?), Sidney Miller. 58:38.

191. Crime Does Not Pay - The Doll (11-29-50)
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The Doll (Aired November 29, 1950)
Crime Does Not Pay was an anthology radio crime drama series based on MGM's short film series. The films began in 1935 with Crime Does Not Pay: Buried Loot. For the most part, actors who appeared in B-films were featured, but occasionally, one of MGM's major stars would make an appearance. The radio series aired in New York on WMGM (October 10, 1949-October 10, 1951) and then moved to the Mutual network (January 7-December 22, 1952). Actors included Bela Lugosi, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, John Loder and Lionel Stander.

THIS EPISODE: November 29, 1950. Program #59. MGM syndication. "The Doll". Commercials added locally. "The Doll" is not only the owner of a nightclub, she's tough as nails. She accepts a contract to rub out "The Duke," but has difficulty being the "finger woman." The date above is the date of the first broadcast on WMGM, New York, from which this syndicated version may be taken. Marx B. Loeb (producer, director), Bob Williams (announcer), Sarah Haden, Jon Gart (composer, conductor), Ira Marion (writer). 28:00.

192. CBS Radio Mystery Theater - Premature Burial (01-06-75)
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Premature Burial (Aired January 6, 1975)
The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT) was an ambitious and sustained attempt to revive the great drama of old-time radio in the 1970s. Created by Himan Brown (who had by then become a radio legend due to his work on Inner Sanctum Mysteries and other shows dating back to the 1930s), and aired on affiliate stations across the CBS Radio network, the series began its long run on January 6, 1974. The final episode ran on December 31, 1982.

THIS EPISODE:"The Premature Burial" is a horror short story on the theme of being buried alive, written by Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1844 in The Philadelphia Daily Newspaper. Fear of being buried alive was common in this period and Poe was taking advantage of the public interest.

January 6, 1975. Program #197. CBS net. "Premature Burial". Sponsored by: Buick, Sine-Off. E. G. Marshall (host), Edgar Allan Poe (author), George Lowther (adaptor), Keir Dullea, Paul Hecht, Guy Sorel, Marian Seldes. 52 minutes.

193. Sleep No More - Wax Work-Man & The Snake (01-09-57)
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Wax Work-Man & The Snake (Aired January 9, 1957)
Nelson Olmsted was a national treasure. Over a broadcasting career of thirty-five years, Olmsted's soothing, reassuring, and highly versatile narrations graced thousands of broadcast recordings. While also a prolific and highly successful actor in both Radio and Television, it's Olmsted's literature readings and narrations that are the focus of this series and this article. Sleep No More was Nelson's Olmsted's contribution to The Golden Age of Radio's rich tradition of broadcasting compelling and stirring supernatural and suspense dramas, predominantly from the finest supernatural literature throughout modern history. Sleep No More arrived during the waning years of the Golden Age of Radio--understandably risky Radio programming for the mid-1950s. On the plus side of the equation were Nelson Olmsted's extremely loyal following throughout the U.S. combined with the classic nature of the stories which comprised the series. These stories were many of the most popular and compelling supernatural stories and adventures in literary history.

THIS EPISODE: January 9, 1957. NBC network. "The Waxwork" "The Man and The Snake". Sustaining. An impoverished journalist accepts the assignment of spending a night in a wax museum. Also, a man is hypnotized by a deadly snake in his apartment. Nelson Olmsted, Ben Grauer (announcer), Ambrose Bierce (author of the second story), Al Kelly (promotional announcement), Kenneth MacGregor (director), A. M. Burrage (author). 29:30.

194. Mister I.A. Moto - Smoke Screen (05-27-51)
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Smoke Screen (Aired May 27, 1951)
Mr. Moto is small in stature but strong and an expert in judo. He was the title character of a series of books, beginning with No Hero (1935; British title: Mr Moto Takes a Hand, reprint title: Your Turn, Mr. Moto), and of eight films between 1937 and 1939, in which he was portrayed by Peter Lorre. With the beginning of World War II, Mr. Moto fell out of favor with Americans, and no new books or movies about him appeared between 1942 and 1957. A dedicated and cold-blooded spy for Imperial Japan, Moto is not a conventional hero. He does not look for opportunities to commit violence but has no problem with killing people who obstruct his plans, and he would not hesitate to take his own life if necessary. But he is a master of concealing his true nature while under cover, and usually appears dull, naive, utterly harmless. He does not try to correct the bigoted attitudes of Westerners toward him and other Asians, and is not above encouraging such condescension. It often works to his advantage, leading Westerners to ignore or underestimate him. His black hair was carefully brushed in the Prussian style. He was smiling, showing a row of shiny gold-filled teeth, and as he smiled he drew in his breath with a polite, soft sibilant sound. From May to October 1951, the NBC Radio Broadcasting network produced and aired 23 half-hour episodes starring James Monk as Mr. I.A. Moto, International Secret Agent. Born in San Francisco but still retaining his international connections, the show focused on Mr. Moto’s fight against Communism although occasionally he also solved more mundane mysteries such as murder and blackmail.

THIS EPISODE: May 27, 1951. NBC network. "The Smoke Screen". Sustaining. The Chinese Communists have smuggled tons of opium into America in a plot to destroy our country. A graphic if somewhat simplistic portrait of dope addiction. Mr. Moto makes a speech about bigotry and how he hates being called, "a dirty Jap." Bernard Grant, Robert Haag, Carol Irwin (producer), Edwin Bruce, Fred Collins (announcer), Harry W. Junkin (writer, director), James Monks, John P. Marquand (creator), Ross Martin. 29:29.

195. Voyage Of The Scarlet Queen - The Green Tourist and The Temple Belle (12-03-47)
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The Green Tourist and The Temple Belle (Aired December 3, 1947)
First heard on Mutual featuring Elliott Lewis, who as Leonard Maltin writes in "The Great American Broadcast, "…wore every hat imaginable-actor, producer, and director-also penned a good number of scripts for series he supervised, including Suspense." And Maltin says of this show, "On the terrific late-1940's high-adventure series The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen he held down both jobs simultaneously as director and star." As Maltin continues, “Lewis had the ability to make you believe whatever he said. Cast as the skipper on the high-adventure series The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, he was completely convincing as seagoing ship's master Philip Carney-never corny or overblown." So let a master captain of drama chart a course to exotic ports of call and thrilling adventures. All you have to do is step aboard The Scarlet Queen.

THIS EPISODE: December 3, 1947. Mutual network. "The Green Tourist and The Temple Belle". Sustaining. A swashbuckling adventure series with a ship and her captain and mate getting into strange adventures of faraway islands. A white woman, posing as a jungle goddess, kidnaps a young tourist from Nevada. Elliott Lewis, Gil Doud (writer), Robert Tallman (writer), Richard Aurandt (music), James Burton (producer), Edwin Max, Gloria Blondell, John Dehner, Ben Wright, Charles Arlington (announcer). 1/2 hour.

196. Recollections At 30 - The Big Bands (10-10-56)
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The Big Bands (Aired October 10, 1956)
NBC - Recollections At 30 - The thirtieth anniversary of the National Broadcasting Company took place in the mid 1950s. To honour the occasion a special program celebrating many "old time radio" broadcasts from the far back as 1927 was created. A look back at the early days of radio. This program highlighting the program stars, songs, and great moments in sports and special events from the 1927 on, included were true stars such as Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Red Skelton, Rudy Vallee, Connie Boswell, as well as Dinah Shore and Judy Garland's debuts. It also includes programs from Vic and Sade, Bergen and McCarthy, Lights Out, and more. In addition listeners were encouraged to write in and request old time radio shows. Some requested old children's programs, others requested such things as the earliest broadcast they could find in their sound library - which turned out to be the daily broadcast from June 11, 1927.

THIS EPISODE: Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, 1935. Glenn Miller from Carnegie Hall, 1939 with Marion Hutton. "Inside Story of a Jitterbug". "Manhatton Marry-Go-Round" with Melton Cross. Bing Crosby from 1937 "Music Hall". Glenn Miller plays "Danny Boy." Benny Goodman plays "'Tain't What Ya Do, It's The Way How Ya Do It" from 1935. Fred Parsons substitutes for Ed Herlihy as host.

197. Mr. District Attorney - Labor Pirates (08-19-42)
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Labor Pirates (Aired August 19, 1942)
Mr District Attorney was for many years the nation’s best-liked crime show. The thirty-minute drama was inspired by the real-life exploits of Thomas E Dewey, a racket-busting district attorney of the late 30s in New York. The show was directed and often written by Ed Byron, a former law student who devoted all of his time researching crime, which was the reason that the show was so topical.

THIS EPISODE: August 19, 1942. NBC network. Sponsored by: Vitalis, Ingram Shaving Cream. The D. A. fights a scheme of "labor pirating." A shady Mr. Preston offers a war plant manager 100 skilled workers...for a price! Jay Jostyn, Vicki Vola, Len Doyle, Phillips H. Lord (creator), Peter Van Steeden (music director), Ed Byron (writer), Jerry Devine (writer). 29:23.

198. Quiet Please - I Remember Tomorrow (07-27-47)
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I Remember Tomorrow (Aired July 27, 1927)
Considered by many to be the best horror / science fiction series ever on radio, Quiet Please came from the pen of Lights Out creator Willis Cooper. Every episode was written in first person and starred the incredibly versatile Ernest Chappell. The shows range from deeply personal human interest shows to some of the most original horror / science fiction stories ever written.

THIS EPISODE: July 27, 1947. Program #6. Mutual network. "I Remember Tomorrow". Sustaining. A gang of criminals hires an alcoholic physicist to build them a time machine, and he does just that. The scientist finds that he doesn't much like what the future holds in store! Ernest Chappell, Frank Dane, Frederick Bell, Gene Paratzo (music), Kermit Murdock, Wyllis Cooper (writer, director). 29:20.

199. Box 13 - Daytime Nightmares (05-15-49)
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Daytime Nightmares (Aired May 15, 1949)
Box 13 was a syndicated radio series about the escapades of mystery novelist Dan Holiday (Alan Ladd), a former newsman. Created by Mayfair Productions, the series premiered August 22, 1948, on New York's WOR and aired in syndication on the East Coast from August 22, 1948, to August 14. 1949. On the West Coast, Box 13 was heard from March 15, 1948 to March 7, 1949. To seek out new ideas for his fiction, Holiday ran a classified ad in the Star-Times newspaper. "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything -- Box 13." The stories followed Holiday's adventures when he responded to the letters sent to him by such people as a psycho killer and various victims.

THIS EPISODE: May 15, 1949. Program #39. Mayfair syndication. "Daytime Nightmare". Commercials added locally. Dan is railroaded into an asylum, framed for murder and winds up a hunted man. A good story. Alan Ladd, Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Russell Hughes (writer), Sylvia Picker (doubles), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor), Paul Frees, Herb Vigran. 27:02.

200. Philo Vance - The Butterfly Murder Case (05-17-49)
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The Butterfly Murder Case (Aired May 17, 1949)
Philo Vance was the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Vance, in the original books, is an intellectual so highly refined he seems he might be ghostwritten by P. G. Wodehouse. Take this quote from The Benson Murder Case, 1924, as Vance pontificates in his inimitable way: "That's your fundamental error, don't y' know. Every crime is witnessed by outsiders, just as is every work of art. The fact that no one sees the criminal, or the artist, actu'lly at work, is wholly incons'quential." Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series. Perhaps one reason the organist "pulls out all the stops" is because there seems to be little, if any, sound effects on the show. Philo Vance, the radio series, does pay homage to the original books in that both were, even in their own time, a bit out of date and stilted.

THIS EPISODE: Program #45. ZIV Syndication. "The Butterfly Murder Case". Commercials added locally. Josie Daniels, "The Broadway Butterfly," is a nightclub singer that dabbles in blackmail! Jackson Beck. 27:59.

201. The Adventures Of Ellery Queen - Mischief Maker (01-13-44)
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Mischief Maker (Aired January 13, 1944)
Tuska cited Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as the best of the Bellamy-Lindsay pairings. "The influence of The Thin Man series was apparent in reverse", Tuska noted about Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery. "Ellery and Nikki are unmarried but obviously in love with each other. Probably the biggest mystery... is how Ellery ever gets a book written. Not only is Nikki attractive and perfectly willing to show off her figure", Tuska wrote, "but she also likes to write her own stories on Queen's time, and gets carried away doing her own investigations." In Ellery Queen, Master Detective, "the amorous relationship between Ellery and Nikki Porter was given a dignity, and therefore integrity", Tuska wrote.

THIS EPISODE: January 13, 1944. NBC network. "The Mischief Maker". Sponsored by: Bromo Seltzer. Anonymous letters are being sent to people living in an apartment house, causing all kinds of grief. Who's behind it? This is the East Coast broadcast. The West Coast program took place on January 13, 1944. Sydney Smith, Marian Shockley, Santos Ortega, Ted de Corsia, G. Beane (Guest Armchair Detective), P. Cusack (Guest Armchair Detective), Frederic Dannay (writer), Manfred B. Lee (writer), Bob Steel (producer, director), Charles Paul (organist), Ernest Chappell (announcer). 1/2 hour.

202. Broadway Is My Beat - The Lila Hunter Case (06-16-52)
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The Lila Hunter Case (Aired June 16, 1952)
Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With music by Robert Stringer, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air, with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb. Beginning with the July 7, 1949 episode, the series was broadcast from Hollywood with producer Elliott Lewis directing a new cast in scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The opening theme of "I'll Take Manhattan" introduced Detective Danny Clover (now played by Larry Thor), a hardened New York City cop who worked homicide "from Times Square to Columbus Circle -- the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."

THIS EPISODE: June 16, 1952. CBS network. Sustaining. "Lila Hunter's Body" has been fished out of the river. The police have been looking for her, because she was under suspicion of murder! Elliott Lewis (producer, director), Alexander Courage (composer, conductor), Larry Thor, Charles Calvert, Jack Kruschen. 25:02.

203. Mr. Keen Tracer Of Lost Persons - The Nightmare Murder Case (12-14-44)
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The Nightmare Murder Case (Aired December 14, 1944)
When Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons first debuted over the Blue Network on October 12, 1937, the show’s title accurately described Keen’s stock-in-trade; the “kindly old investigator” tracked down individuals who had mysteriously vanished, leaving behind their families, homes, jobs and other day-to-day activities. Keen (he never had a first name, unless it was “Peachy”) was assisted in these duties by an Irishman named Mike Clancy. Mike wasn’t much of a brainiac (the quote that comprises the title of this post was a semi-catchphrase that he seemed to use on the show every week) but he could use the necessary brawn when the situation called for it. Bennett Kilpack played kindly ol' Keen throughout most of the program’s run, as well as Philip Clarke and Arthur Hughes, while Jim Kelly took the role of Clancy. The series originally aired as a thrice-weekly fifteen-minute serial from 1937-43 (the show moved to CBS in 1942), providing more than ample time for Keen to solve even the most baffling of disappearances. Beginning November 11, 1943, the program changed its format to that of a half-hour weekly offering—and though the title and theme song remained, Keen branched out into investigating murders.

THIS EPISODE: December 14, 1944. CBS network. "The Nightmare Murder Case". Sponsored by: Anacin, Kolynos, Heet, Kriptin, Bisodol, Hills Cold Tabs. A woman spends her husband's savings on secret voice lessons for her daughter. Frank Hummert, Anne Hummert (author), Bennett Kilpack, Larry Elliott (announcer). 30:14.

204. Tom Corbett Space Cadet - Escort 0f Death (04-29-52) Pt.1 of 2
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Escort 0f Death (Aired April 29, 1952) Pt.1 of 2
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Tom Corbett, Astro, and Roger Manning, cadets at the Space Academy as they train to become members of the elite Solar Guard. The action takes place at the Academy in classrooms and bunkroom, aboard their training ship the rocket cruiser Polaris, and on alien worlds, both within our solar system and in orbit around nearby stars. The Tom Corbett universe partook of pseudo-science, not equal to the standards of accuracy set by John W. Campbell in the pages of Astounding. And yet, by the standards of the day, it was much more accurate than most media science fiction. Mars was a desert, Venus a jungle, and the asteroids a haunt of space pirates, but at least planets circled suns and there was no air in space. Contrast this with Twilight Zone, years later, where people could live on asteroids wearing ordinary clothes, or Lost in Space, years after that, where a spaceship could be passing "Jupiter and Andromeda" at the same time. Before Star Trek, Tom Corbett — Space Cadet was the most scientifically accurate series on television, in part due to official science advisor Willy Ley, and later due to Frankie Thomas. Thomas read up on science and everyone on the set turned to him for advice on matters scientific.

THIS EPISODE:"Escort Of Death" Part One of Two

205. X Minus One - Protection (03-20-57)
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Protection (Aired March 20, 1957)
Episodes of the show include adaptations of Robert Sheckley's "Skulking Permit," Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven," Heinlein's "Universe" and "The Green Hills of Earth", " Pohl’s "The Tunnel under the World," J. T. McIntosh’s "Hallucination Orbit," Fritz Leiber’s "A Pail of Air" and George Lefferts' "The Parade". The program opened with announcer Fred Collins delivering the countdown, leading into this introduction (although later shows were partnered with Galaxy Science Fiction rather than Astounding Science Fiction): Countdown for blastoff... X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one... Fire! [Rocket launch SFX] From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of Astounding Science Fiction presents... X Minus One.

THIS EPISODE: March 20, 1957. NBC network. "Protection". Sustaining. A student at Columbia University comes under the protection of a Valadusian Durg, but there are drawbacks. Whatever you do, don't Lesnerize! The script was used subsequently on "Future Tense" on May 15, 1974. Robert Sheckley (author), William Redfield, Elliott Reid, William Keene, Fred Collins (announcer), Ernest Kinoy (adaptor), Kenneth MacGregor (director), William Welch (producer). 23:01.

206. Dark Fantasy - Pennsylvania Turnpike (03-20-42)
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