Monday, February 09, 2009

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Mr. & Mrs. North "The Letter" (10-06-43)


The Letter (Aired October 6, 1943)


In 1946, Mr. and Mrs. North received the first Best Radio Drama Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America (in a tie with CBS's Ellery Queen). Also 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. The series was unusual in that it was Mrs North who solved the cases while Mr North was just background most times. 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. Sixteen episodes of the TV series have been released in the "Best of TV Detectives" box set. Mr. and Mrs. North were resurrected in spirit with ABC's Hart to Hart, the 1979-84 crime drama about a wealthy husband (Robert Wagner) and wife (Stefanie Powers) who spent as much time solving murders as romancing each other and pursuing careers as an industrialist and a journalist, played the crime theme with wry wit reminiscent of the Norths in their heyday.


THIS EPISODE:

October 6, 1943. CBS network. Sponsored by: Halo Shampoo, Cashmere Bouquet, Colgate Toothpowder. A Friend of the Norths is accused of murder. Albie Baker goes on trial. Alice Frost, Joseph Curtin, Charles Stark (announcer), Frances Lockridge (creator), Richard Lockridge (creator). 24:49.

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