Pat Novak For Hire - "Father Leahy" (04-02-49)

Father Leahy (Aired April 2, 1949)

The rapid, staccato dialogue between Webb & Raymond Burr is typical of harboiled fiction and is often humorous. Pat uses the time to try to solve the case. He usually employs the help of his friend Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owen) - a drunken ex-doctor typically found at some disreputable tavern or bar - to help him solve the case. As Pat asks for his help, Jocko launches a long-winded philosophical diatribe, full of witty and funny remarks, until Novak cuts him off. Jocko and Pat unravel the case and Hellman makes the arrest. Finally, we hear the foghorn and Novak's footsteps on the pier again before Novak spells out the details of the case for us. At the end, Novak informs us that "Hellman asked only one question", which Pat answers with a clever retort. The dialogue is rife with similes found in pulp fiction. Example: 'The neighborhood was run down - the kind of place where the For Rent signs look like ransom notes. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
April 2, 1949. Program #5. ABC. "Father Leahy" - Program #3. ABC net, KECA, Los Angeles origination, AFRS rebroadcast. A priest puts Pat on the trail of an escaped convict named Joe Feldman. This leads to a slit throat, a dead cop, and the standard frame. Jack Webb, Raymond Burr, Richard Breen (writer), Basil Adlam (music), George Fenneman (announcer), Tudor Owen, Paul Frees (doubles), Parley Baer, Lurene Tuttle, William P. Rousseau (producer, director). 30:10. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Richard Diamond Private Detective - "The Pete Rocco Case" (10-04-50)

The Pete Rocco Case (Aired October 4, 1950)

 Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart. Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama. Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

 

THIS EPISODE:

October 4, 1950. NBC network. "The Pete Rocco Case". Sponsored by: Rexall. When Peter Rocco escapes from jail to kill Diamond, Rocco's mother hires Diamond to return her son to prison! Dick sings, "A Little Bit Independent" after the story. Dick Powell, Frank Worth (music director), Jaime del Valle (transcriber), Bill Forman (announcer), June Allyson. 28:19. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Sealed Book - "The Accusing Corpse" (04-29-45)

The Accusing Corpse (Aired April 29, 1945)

INTR0: Bob Camardella Plays The Classic 4 "What Would I Do"

With The Sealed Book, each epsisode opened with the sound of the great gong, followed by Philip Clarke's observation that the Keeper of The Book had once again opened the door to the secret vault, within which was contained the 'great sealed book' recording 'all the secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages.' At the end of all but the last episode, Clarke would tell listeners to tune in the following week when "the sound of the great gong heralds another strange and exciting tale from... the sealed book." Keep in mind that even though the 26 scripts of The Sealed Book were derived from The Mysterious Traveler, it's instructive to note that each production used a different cast than that of it's associated production from The Mysterious Traveler. And indeed, some of the production values were a cut above in The Sealed Book, as contrasted with their similar productions from The Mysterious Traveler. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

 

THIS EPISODE:

April 29, 1945. Program #7. Mutual network. "The Accusing Corpse". Sustaining. A plot to a commit double murder is executed in a very strange way with very strange results. The script was also used on "The Mysterious Traveler" on April 16, 1944. The system cue has been deleted. This program has also been dated July 1, 1945 on WGN, Chicago. Robert A. Arthur (writer), David Kogan (writer), Phillip Clarke (host), Jock MacGregor (producer, director). 29:30. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Strike It Rich - "Show Of August 21, 1951"

Show Of August 21, 1951

The show made it's debut on CBS radio in 1947. Strike it rich was on CBS's primetime schedule July 4, 1951 through January 12, 1955. There were two attempts to revive the show, with Bert Parks as host in 1973 and Tom Kelly as host in 1978. Neither revival was successful. A syndicated game show of the same name with host Joe Garagiola was aired 1986-1987, but it had a different format. Known as "The quiz show with a heart" and the contestants who appeared on the show were people in need of money or down on their luck. A player was given $30 and bet part of his or her bank on the ability to answer four general knowledge questions. If unable to answer the questions correctly, the contestant could turn to the "heart line" where viewers would call in and donate money or merchandise. When needy families desparate to become contestants began arriving in New York on one-way tickets, the city's Welfare Department labeled the game show "a national disgrace."

The Silent Men - "Little White Lies" (01-13-52)

 

FIRST BROADCAST: October 14, 1951

LAST BROADCAST: May 28, 1952

 
NBC, 30 min. "This is Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.... In a moment, it will be my pleasure to introduce to you stories of the Silent Men, the special agents of federal law-enforcement who silently, and for little material reward, daily risk their lives to protect the lives of all of us. Their tradition is long and proud, yet to guard our welfare and our liberties, they must remain nameless..." Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. played the parts of "special agents. At each episode, Fairbanks checked in with his chief, played by either William Conrad or Herb Butterfield.

THIS EPISODE:

The Silent Men. January 13, 1952. NBC network. "Little White Lies". Sustaining. A counter-intelligence agent fights a gang of diamond smugglers. The system cue has been deleted. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Don Stanley (announcer), Joel Murcott (writer), Warren Lewis (producer, director), William Conrad, Bertram Tanzewell, Frank Gerstle, Jeff Corey, Vivi Janis. 30:54.

The Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Screen Guild Players" - The Ox-Bow Incident (09-18-44)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Screen Guild Players" - The Ox-Bow Incident (Aired September 18, 1944)

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:

 
September 18, 1944. "The Ox-Bow Incident" - Two drifters are passing through a Western town, when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen. The townspeople, joined by the drifters, form a posse to catch the perpetrators. They find three men in possession of the cattle, and are determined to see justice done on the spot. 29:54. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Real McCoys (Aired March 27, 1958)

 The Real McCoys (Aired March 27, 1958)

California's San Fernando Valley. Center of the action, and undisputed star of the show, was Grandpa, a porch-rockin', gol- darnin', consarnin' old geezer with a wheezy voice who liked to meddle in practically everybody's affairs, neighbors and kin alike. His kin were grandson Luke and his new bride, Kate; Luke's teenage sister, Hassie; and Luke's 11-year-old brother, Little Luke (their parents were deceased). Completing the regular cast were Pepino, their loyal farm hand; George MacMichael, their crusty neighbor and Amos' best friend; and Flora, George's spinster sister who had eyes for Amos. Grandpappy Amos was an incorrigible codger who was against anything anyone else was for. He had the regulation Heart of Gold stuck away somewhere, but he was cantankerous as all get out. With his shoulders and arms jumping, Amos walked like a chicken with a limp. He bullied, he blustered, he cajoled, he did everything he could to get his own way. His not being able to read or write got him into many predicaments, for he would never admit to being illiterate to anyone outside the family. In 1962 the series moved to CBS. Luke became a widower and many of the plots began to revolve around Grandpa's attempts to match him up with a new wife. The family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy, the head of the family played by Walter Brennan, his grandson Luke played by Richard Crenna, Luke's new bride Kate played by Kathleen Nolan, teenage sister Hassie played be Lydia Reed, and 11-year-old brother Little Luke played by Michael Winkelman. The Real McCoys paved the way for such rural hits as The Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show.

The Adventures Of Nero Wolf - "The Killer Cards" (01-12-51)

The Killer Cards (Aired January 12, 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. Wolfe drinks beer throughout the day and is a glutton. 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.

 

THIS EPISODE:

January 12, 1951. NBC network. "The Killer Cards". Sustaining. The joint owners of "The Candy Club" sit down to a game of cards. Murder deals a hand, with Archie Goodwin kidnapped as the ante. The final promotional announcement and the system cue have been deleted. Sydney Greenstreet, Rex Stout (creator), Gerald Mohr, William Johnstone, Don Stanley (announcer), Edwin Fadiman (producer), Betty Lou Gerson, Jay Novello, Howard McNear, Barney Phillips. 28:30. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Pete Kelly's Blues - "Dutch Courtney" (02-20-51)

Dutch Courtney Aired February 20, 1951

Pete Kelly was a musician, a cornet player who headed his own jazz combo, "Pete Kelly's Big Seven." They worked at 417 Cherry Street, a speakeasy run by George Lupo, often mentioned but never heard. Kelly, narrating the series, described Lupo as a "fat, friendly little guy." The plots typically centered around Kelly's reluctant involvement with gangsters, gun molls, FBI agents, and people trying to save their own skins. The endings were often downbeat. The series inspired a 1955 film version of Pete Kelly's Blues, in which Jack Webb produced, directed and starred. It used many of the same musicians, including Cathcart, and Ella Fitzgerald was cast as Maggie Jackson.

 

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
February 20, 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). 27:25. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Radio City Playhouse (NBC) - "Hit & Run" (08-14-48)

Hit & Run (Aired August 14, 1948)

The Radio City Playhouse was a half-hour of drama, sometimes comedy, often very exciting and suspenseful. The cast were made up of  New York veterans of radio and stage, including Jan Minor and John Larkin as featured performers. The director, Harry W. Junkin, also served as the show's host and narrator. Each week the show introduced a new story, often written by well-known writers of fantasy and suspense such as Ray Bradbury, Cornell Woolrich, Agatha Christie and Paul Gallico. They were dramatized with a full orchestral soundtrack and excellent sound effects.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 

August 14, 1948. Program #6. NBC network. "Hit and Run". Sustaining. A man kills a young boy on the highway and finds himself unable to live with the consequences. Bob Warren (announcer), Casey Allen, Donald Hastings, Fran Carlon, Harry W. Junkin (writer), Lon Clark, Max Schub (writer), Richard P. McDonough (supervisor), Roy Shield (composer, conductor). 29:14. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Screen Director's Playhouse - "The Uninvited"" (11-18-49)

The Uninvited (Aired November 18, 1949)

Screen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, and original directors of the films were sometimes involved in the productions, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations, and a brief "curtain call" with the cast and host at the end of the program. Actors on the radio series included Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, James Mason, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Loretta Young.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
November 18, 1949. NBC network. "The Uninvited". Sustaining. A weepy ghost story set in England. Ray Milland, June Foray, John Dehner, Lewis Allen. 29:49. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Sears Radio Theater ( Mutual ) - "Munsey's Mob" (05-24-79)

Munsey's Mob (Aired May 24, 1979)

The Sears Radio Theater Series premiered on Monday 02/05/79 and offered a different genre each weekday night. Each genre was hosted by a different celebrity. The program was produced on Paramount's Stage F in Hollywood. These first 130 programs were broadcast over a six month period and then rebroadcast over the following six months. From 02/14/80 to 12/19/81 this series was heard again, this time over Mutual, as The Mutual Radio Theater. This was clearly one of the last big attempts to produce radio programming, with many of radio’s best talents, the way radio was heard in its “golden days.” Despite budget and talent, it just wasn’t to be.

 

THIS EPISODE:

May 24, 1979. Program #79. CBS network. "Munsey's Mob". Sponsored by: Sears Roebuck and Company. Barney Phillips, Byron Kane, Cecily Tyson (hostess), Daws Butler, Don Blakely, Fletcher Markle (producer, director, performer), Howard Culver, Jack Carroll, Joan McCall, Norman Alden, Ted Sherdeman (writer), Vic Perrin. 49:13. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Rocky Jordan - "Varlachi" (07-31-49)

Varlachi (Aired July 31, 1949)

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. John Dunning in his "On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio" describes Jordan as "a rugged hero who each week was confronted by a crime, a mystery, a beautiful woman or a combination of the three. It was a detective show with a difference: the Oriental background was played to the hilt, giving it a sound like no other." The writers worked hard to give it authenticity - actual places and streets in Cairo were often and accurately mentioned.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
July 31, 1949. CBS Pacific network. "Varlachi". Sustaining. Rocky befriends a Spanish speaking gypsy (in Cairo ?). Jack Moyles makes an announcement that next week, the show will be sponsored by Del Monte. Jack Moyles, Larry Thor (announcer), Cliff Howell (producer, director), Larry Roman (story editor), Gomer Cool (story editor), Richard Aurandt (composer, conductor), Margaret Barnum (writer). 29:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Adventures Of The Saint - "Search For A Killer (07-02-50)" aka "A Real Gone Guy"

Search For A Killer (Aired July 2, 1950)

The Saint first appeared in Radio in 1940 over Radio Athlone in Ireland. Radio Athlone's powerful transmitters broadcast The Saint throught the United Kingdom, often being picked up in The Netherlands and France. British Stage actor Terence De Marney was Radio's first Simon Templar. It wasn't until 1945 that The Saint aired over American Radio. Two of the scripts from the Radio Athlone run were adapted for the Leslie Charteris-penned Brian Aherne run over CBS in the Summer of 1945.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
July 2, 1950. NBC network. "Search For A Killer" aka: "A Real Gone Guy". Sustaining. The program is preceded by a Korean War news bulletin. Who killed a band leader in a small town? Vivi Janis, William Johnstone, Lawrence Dobkin, Charles Glenn, Vaughn Dexter (composer, conductor), James L. Saphier (producer), Vincent Price, Leslie Charteris (creator), Helen Mack (director), Lou Merrill, Jack Edwards, Don Stanley (anouncer). 28:14. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Rocky Fortune (Starring Frank Sinatra) - "Catskills Cover-Up" (02-09-54)

Catskills Cover-Up (Aired February 9, 1954)

There is frequently a beautiful woman involved, some good girls, some bad. Rocky's a tough guy who stays just inside of the law but we get an occasional glimpse of a soft heart beneath the hard exterior. It's a character that Mr. Sinatra plays nicely. Employed or not, Rocky possesed a variety of skills. During the course of the series, he worked as a process server, museum tour guide, cabbie, bodyguard, chauffeur, truck driver, social director for a Catskills resort and a carny. He could also fake enough bass to play at weddings and bar-mitzvahs. For most of the series, Rocky received his job assignments from the Gridley Employment Agency, usually referred to as just "the agency".

 

THIS EPISODE:

February 9, 1954. NBC network. "Catskills Cover-Up". Sustaining. Not auditioned. Rocky becomes a Borscht Belt social director to help a man involved in a post office robbery. Don't miss the straight-faced line, "Okay Louie, drop the blintz!". Frank Sinatra, Barney Phillips. 23:45. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Secrets Of Scotland Yard - "Murder Without Motive" (10-19-53)

Murder without Motive (Aired October 19, 1953)

INTRO: Bob Remembers The Duprees "You Belong To Me" (1962)

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. Stories presented in the series include the theft of the British crown jewels by Colonel Thomas Blood; the story of a man who finds an armless and legless body wrapped in ribbons and lace; or the strange story of two close brothers who love one another enough to contemplate the murder of a brother’s affluent, yet unsightly and ignorant, wife. Murders, forgery, and robberies all get a through review on the program. Each time, Scotland Yard detectives are afoot to solve the crime mystery! The Secrets of Scotland Yard was initially hosted by Clive Brook, probably for the first year or so. To add to the air of authenticity, Brook sometimes discusses matters with Percy Hoskins, a 1950s crime expert and reporter for the London Daily Express. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

Space Patrol - "The Search For Asteroid X" (12-13-52)

The Search For Asteroid X (Aired December 13, 1952)

The success of the TV show spawned a radio version, which ran for 129 episodes from October 1952 to March 1955. The same cast of actors performed on both shows. The writers, scripts, adventures and director were quite different in radio versus TV incarnations. Naturally, the series lacked the adult sophistication of such shows as X Minus One, which focused on adapting short fiction by notable genre names as Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. But as a throwback to the sort of Golden Age space opera popularized in the 1930s, the days of science fiction's infancy, by pioneering magazine editor Hugo Gernsback, Space Patrol is prized by OTR collectors today as one of radio's most enjoyable adventures.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
December 13, 1952. ABC network. "The Search For Asteroid X". Sponsored by: Ralston cereals. Commander Corry and Cadet Happy are on the trail of the Saturn Syndicate with the help of a human computer. Bela Kovacs, Dick Tufeld (announcer), Ed Kemmer, Ken Mayer, Larry Robertson (producer, director), Lyn Osborn, Mike Moser (creator), Norman Jolley, Lou Huston (writer). 29:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Philo Vance - "The Hurdy-Gurdy Murder Case" (05-24-49)

The Hurdy-Gurdy Murder Case (Aired May 24, 1949)

INTRO: Bob Remembers The Cleftones "Heart & Soul" (1961)

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.

 

THIS EPISODE:

 
May 24, 1949. Program #46. ZIV Syndication. "The Hurdy-Gurdy Murder Case". Commercials added locally. Gangster Eddie Mills has been shot and killed, despite his hiring a body guard. An organ-grinder could provide a clue to the crime, but he's been murdered too! Jackson Beck, Joan Alexander, S. S. Van Dine (creator), Jeanne K. Harrison (director), Henry Sylvern (organist), Frederick W. Ziv (producer). 32:53. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet - "The Matchmaker" (10-24-48)

The Matchmaker (Aired October 24, 1948)

As the series progressed and the boys grew up, storylines involving various characters were introduced. Many of the series storylines were taken from the Nelsons' real life. When the real David and Rick got married, to June Blair and Kristin Harmon respectively, their wives joined the cast of Ozzie and Harriet, and the marriages were written into the series. (What was seldom written into the series was Ozzie's profession; mention of his lengthy and successful band-leading career was infrequent.) By the mid 1960s, America's social climate was changing, and the Nelsons' all American nuclear family epitomized the 1950s values and ideals that were quickly becoming a thing of the past.

 

THIS EPISODE:

October 24, 1948. "Matchmaker" - NBC network. Sponsored by: International Silver. While Harriet plays matchmaker, Ozzie tries to undo the damage. Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, Verne Smith (announcer), John Brown, Janet Waldo, Henry Blair, Tommy Bernard, Lurene Tuttle, Donald Woods, Billy May (composer, conductor). 29:22. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Our Miss Brooks - "Going Skiing" (aka-Skis In The Classroom) 02-25-51

Going Skiing (aka-Skis In The Classroom) Aired February 25, 1951

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:

February 25, 1951. "Going Skiing (aka-Skis In The Classroom) - Program #111. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Denton Ski Claw". Miss Brooks decides to try on a pair of skis, and trouble goes down the hill with her! "The Denton Claw" is sure to help. Eve Arden, Al Lewis (writer, director), Jane Morgan, Bob Lemond (announcer), Richard Crenna, Jeff Chandler, Gloria McMillan, Gale Gordon, Wilbur Hatch (music), Larry Berns (producer), Joe Quillan (writer). 34:38. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Old Gold Comedy Theater - "The Nervous Wreck" (04-22-45)

The Nervous Wreck (Aired April 22, 1945)

 

 

The Old Gold Comedy Theater was an NBC series that aired for the single 1944-1945 season, Sundays 10:30 - 11:00 pm. It was hosted by comedy star Harold Lloyd, of silent film fame, and featuring some of the biggest names from film and radio. In October 1944, Lloyd emerged as the director and host of The Old Gold Comedy Theater, an NBC radio anthology series, The show presented half-hour radio adaptations of recently successful film comedies, beginning with Palm Beach Story with Claudette Colbert and Robert Young. Some saw The Old Gold Comedy Theater as being a lighter version of Lux Radio Theater, and it featured some of the best-known film and radio personalities of the day, including Fred Allen, June Allyson, Lucille Ball, Ralph Bellamy, Linda Darnell, Susan Hayward, Herbert Marshall, Dick Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, and Alan Young, among others. But the show's half-hour format — which meant the material might have been truncated too severely — and Lloyd's sounding somewhat ill at ease on the air for much of the season (though he spent weeks training himself to speak on radio prior to the show's premiere, and seemed more relaxed toward the end of the series run) may have worked against it.

Official Detective - "Drunken Murder Suspect" (11-01-56)

Official Detective - Drunken Murder Suspect (11-01-56) (Aired November 29, 1956)

A Police Melodrama that ran on air 1-19-47 thru 3-7-57 . Mutual network.  Many weekly timeslots. Presented in  cooperation with Official Detective Stories Magazine. CAST: Craig McDonnell as Detective Lt. Dan Britt.  Tommy Evans as Sgt. Al Bowen.  Directed by Wynn Wright. The show features a crime from the start to the end and then it gets solved by a detective.

 

THIS EPISODE:

November 29, 1956. "Drunken Murder Suspect (11-01-56)" Syndicated. Commercials added locally. Wyn Wright (producer, director), Albert G. Miller (writer), Jack Irish (announcer), Lawson Zerbe, Doris Rich, Cathleen Cordell, James Monks. 22:24. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Radio Reader's Digest - "Debt Of Honor" (05-27-48)

Debt Of Honor (Aired May 27, 1948)

The Hallmark Radio Reader's Digest is an enjoyable compilation of classics of literature and romance made for radio broadcast in the 1940's.  The shows were sponsored by makers of Hallmark Greeting Cards. These were independent short stories made for radio. Many of the stories were international love stories - with characters from other countries who were in love with the vibrancy of America.

 

THIS EPISODE:

May 27, 1948. CBS network, KMBC, Kansas City, Missouri aircheck. "Debt Of Honor". Sponsored by: Hallmark Cards. The show also is also called "The Hallmark Program." An Italian who runs a small bank goes bankrupt after a robbery. He swears to pay back every depositor every penny. Roger Pryor, Jay Jackson (host), Agnes Young. 29:16. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Nightwatch - "Boy Go Home" (07-31-54)

Boy Go Home (Aired July 31, 1954)

Before the "Reality TV", there was "Reality Radio" and Night Watch was there. This show is a straight crime documentary with no music, sound effects, or actors. Police reporter Don Reid rode in a prowl car on the night shift with officers from the Culver City, California police department. While wearing a hidden microphone, he captures the sounds and voices of real life drama. From the worried child to the hardened criminal, their stories come through loud and clear. The names were changed to protect identities, but everything else in this gripping series is real.

 

THIS EPISODE:

July 31, 1954. "Boy Go Home" - CBS network. Sustaining. The first case is about a little lost boy. When the cops return the boy to his house, his parents aren't home. A house burns down (it's arson), a domestic violence case. Sterling Tracy (producer), Jim Headlock (producer), Donn Reed (police recorder), W. N. Hildebrand (Chief Of Police). 27:46. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Nightfall - "The Jogger" (04-16-82)

The Jogger (Aired April 16, 1982)

Nightfall is a radio drama series produced and aired by CBC Radio from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. One episode was even adapted from a folk song by Stan Rogers. Some of Nightfall's episodes were so terrifying that the CBC registered numerous complaints and some affiliate stations dropped it. Despite this, the series went on to become one of the most popular shows in CBC Radio history, running 100 episodes that featured a mix of original tales and adaptations of both classic and obscure short stories. Show Notes From Calfkiller Old Time Radio

 

THIS EPISODE:

April 16, 1982. Program #59. CBC network, Toronto origination. "The Jogger". A good story about a 48-year-old man who pushes his body into shape...to keep up with, "The Jogger." John Stocker (triples), Melleny Brown, Neil Dainard, Alan Fawcett, John Granik, John Jessop (recording engineer), Bill Robinson (sound effects), Nancy McElvene (production assistant), Bill Howell (producer, director, executive producer), Henry Ramer (host), Linda Sorenson, Tony Bell (writer). 25:15. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Red Skelton Show - "Deadeye Trades In His Horse" (09-17-48)

Deadeye Trades In His Horse (Aired September 17, 1948)

Skelton married Edna Marie Stillwell (b.1906 - d.1982), a joke writer, business manager, and former usher at Kansas City's old Pantage Theater, on June 1, 1931. Skelton was one month away from his 18th birthday, and Edna was 16 (or as old as 25 if the birth date given above is correct.). They divorced in 1943. Stillwell remained an advisor on his career after their marriage ended. It was his ex-wife/manager Edna who negotiated a seven-year Hollywood contract for him in 1951, the same year "The Red Skelton Show" (1951) premiered on NBC. On March 9, 1945 he married Georgia Maurine Davis in Beverly Hills, California. They had two children, Richard Jr., and Valentina Marie Skelton (b.1947). Richard Skelton Jr.'s death on May 10, 1958 from leukemia, just 10 days before his 10th birthday, devastated the Skelton household. Family friend Arthur Marx, Groucho's son, whose unauthorized biography of Skelton came out in 1979, wrote "Red treated his son's room in their Palm Springs house like a little museum. ...He had it cordoned off with a velvet rope so nobody could go in there."

 

THIS EPISODE:

110198. The Red Skelton Show. September 17, 1948. NBC network. The Four Knights sing, "Brother Bill.". Red Skelton, The Four Knights. "Deadeye Trades In His Horse" (09-17-48) Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.                                   

Quiet Please - "Bring Me To Life" (08-10-47)

Bring Me To Life (Aired August 10, 1947)

Quiet, Please! was an old-time radio fantasy and horror program created by Wyllis Cooper, also known for creating Lights Out. Ernest Chappell was the show's announcer and lead actor. Quiet, Please! was first broadcast by on June 8, 1947 by the Mutual Broadcasting System, and its last episode ran on June 25, 1949, by ABC. A total of 106 shows were broadcast, with only a very few of them repeats. Earning relatively little notice during its initial run, Quiet, Please! has since been praised as one of the finest efforts of the golden age of American radio drama. Professor Richard J. Hand of the University of Glamorgan (author of probably the most detailed critical analysis of the series) argues that with Quiet, Please, Cooper and Chappell "created works of astonishing originality" (Hand, 145); he further describes the program as an "extraordinary body of work" (Hand, 158), which established Cooper "as one of the greatest auteurs of horror radio." (Hand, 161) Similarly, radio historian Ron Lackmann declares that the episodes "were exceptionally well written and outstandingly acted"

 

THIS EPISODE:

August 10, 1947. Mutual network. "Bring Me To Life". Sustaining. A script writer for "Quiet Please" has a typewriter that types by itself! Whatever is typed (such as, "It was a stormy night") comes to pass (crash of thunder)! Wyllis Cooper (host, writer, director), Ernest Chappell ("the man who spoke to you"), Helen Marcy, Walter Black, Walter Bryan, Gene Parazzo (organist). 29:13. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Night Beat - "The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead" (03-20-50)

The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead (Aired March 20, 1950)

Broadcast on NBC, Nightbeat ran from 1949 to 1952 and starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, a tough and streetwise reporter who worked the nightbeat for the Chicago Star looking for human interest stories. He met an assortment of people, most of them with a problem, many of them scared, and sometimes he was able to help them, sometimes he wasn’t. It is generally regarded as a ‘quality’ show and it stands up extremely well. Frank Lovejoy (1914-1962) isn’t remembered today, but he was a powerful and believable actor with a strong delivery, and his portrayal of Randy Stone as tough guy with humanity was perfect. The scripts were excellent, given that they had to pack in a lot in a short time, and there was a good supporting cast, orchestra, and sound effects. ‘The Slasher’, broadcast on 10 November 1950, the last show of season one, has a very loosely Ripper-derived plot in which Stone searches for an artist. Supporting actors included Parley Baer, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Lawrence Dobkin, Paul Frees, Jack Kruschen, Peter Leeds, Howard McNear, Lurene Tuttle and Martha Wentworth.

 

THIS EPISODE:

March 20, 1950. "The Man Who Claimed To Be Dead" - NBC network. Sustaining. Randy Stone meets a man in the park on a very hot day. He is wearing a heavy overcoat! Mr. Henry Kazarian claims to be dead, and a doctor confirms it! A well-written story, good radio! Part of the final public service announcement and the system cue have been deleted. Frank Lovejoy, Larry Marcus (writer, editor), Ben Wright, Betty Lou Gerson, Paul Dubov, Warren Lewis (director), Frank Worth (music), Jeff Corey, Lou Krugman. 28:52. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

"The Planet Man" - 3 Episodes From 1950

"The Planet Man" - 3 Episodes From 1950

is a graduate of the Space Patrol/Tom Corbett, Space
Cadet school of old-time radio drama, serving up plenty of breezy,
not-to-be-taken-seriously adventure fun. Marston is a great
megalomaniacal comic villain, very similar to the bad guys in the
Columbia Studios serials who were always griping about their bungling
subordinates and their inability to follow orders. But the series
utilizes other colorful villains as well -- particularly a pair of
Brooklynese dese-dem-and-dose space pirates named Slick and Blackie who
sound like refugees from a Monogram B-gangster pic. And yet, the show
showcases ideas that will be used later in other, classic sci-fi films:
one particular story arc echoes the Cold War paranoia of "The Invasion
of the Body Snatchers," in which the nefarious Marston manages to
dehumanize Dantro and others with his handy-dandy "Hypno-Ray."

 

Pier 23 Johnny Madero (Starring Jack Webb) "Fatal Auction" (06-26-47)

Fatal Auction (Aired June 26, 1947)

Johnny Modero, Pier 23 is an outstanding old time radio detective and drama series. Playing the part of Johnny Modero is the great Jack Webb. It was aired on the Mutual Network as a summer relacement show in 1947, and Johnny Modero was a fast talking, wise cracking guy who ran a boat shop in  San Francisco. When Modero was on a case, he usually solved it before his nemesis, but sometimes friend, a cop who went by the name of Warchek. Warchek was played by another old time radio great William Conrad. As far as Jack Webb goes, this is the kind of part he thrived on, he had similar roles in Jeff Regan PI, and Pat Novak For Hire. This was also before his stint on Dragnet. Sometimes it seems like this show was produced just to show off Webb's style of radio acting. He set the standard for the tough talking, no nonsense, Private Investigator type for old time radio shows. When it was cancelled, or more accuratley not picked up for a full time show, it caused an uproar for the Mutual Network. Show Notes From Eddie's Old Time Radio

 

THIS EPISODE:

June 26, 1947. "Fatal Auction" - Mutual network. Sustaining. The waterfront character with a nose for trouble. A saxophone worth $1000 and two murders. Why? Jack Webb, Gale Gordon, William Conrad, Herb Butterfield, Harry Zimmerman (composer, conductor), Nat Wolff (director). 28:32. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.