Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Real McCoys" Gambling Is A Sin (12-19-57)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Real McCoys" Gambling Is A Sin (Aired December 19, 1957)


The series revolved around the lives of a mountain family who originally hailed from the fictional community of Smoky Corners, West Virginia. The McCoys moved to California where they became dirt farmers. The family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy (the head of the family; Walter Brennan), his grandson Luke (Richard Crenna), Luke's new bride Kate (Kathleen Nolan), teenage sister Hassie (Lydia Reed), and 11-year-old brother Little Luke (Michael Winkelman). The double-naming of the brothers was explained in the first episode by the elder Luke as due to their parents being so excited over the birth of the younger boy, "they forgot all about me!" When they arrived on the new ranch, that had been in the family (it was originally owned by an uncle, Ben McCoy, who had died); they also gained an Hispanic ranch hand named Pepino (Tony Martinez) who worked with them, and eventually became part of the family. The McMichaels, a brother and sister family lived on the hill not far from the McCoys, and Amos and George would sometimes spat. Kate was friendly with Flora McMichael, George's sister; and she got involved with a lot of the life in the community. She also served as a mother figure for Luke's younger siblings, Hassie and Little Luke. Just before the show ended its run on ABC, Nolan decided to leave the show due to a contract dispute, so her character was killed off for the final season. The beginning of the final season also saw Hassie leaving home to attend college and Little Luke joining the Army. Luke became a widower and many of the stories revolved around Grandpa trying to match him up with a new wife. This nearly worked when Luke met Louise Howard, played by Janet De Gore, a widow with a young son, Greg, played by Butch Patrick.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Dimension X "Childs Play" (06-24-51)

Childs Play (Aired June 24, 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. It came so late that nobody cared, but some of the stories stand as classics of the medium. Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven" is as gripping today as when first heard. His "Martian Chronicles" was one of the series' most impressive offerings. Dimension X played heavily on an "adventures in time and space, told in future tense" theme. Actors who worked regularly on the show included Joe Di Santis, Wendell Holmes, Santos Ortega, Joseph Julian, Jan Miner, Roger De Koven, John Gibson, Ralph Bell, John Larkin, Les Damon, and Mason Adams. It was directed by Fred Weihe and Edward King. The deep-voiced narrator was Norman Rose. The series played heavily on the "X" factor in the title, as did X-Minus One a few years later. The signature was boomed out of and echo chamber as "DIMENSION X X X X X x x x x x . . . "

THIS EPISODE:

June 24, 1951. NBC net. "Child's Play". Sustaining. A man receives a "Build-A-Man" kit from the future. The script was used subsequently on "X Minus One" on October 20, 1955. Albert Buhrman (music), Fred Weihe (director, transcriber), George Lefferts (adaptor), Karl Weber, Leon Janney, Norman Rose (host), Patsy Campbell, William Tenn (author), William Welch (producer), Bob Warren (announcer), Ian Martin, Adelaide Klein. 24:28.

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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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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Life Of Riley "The Geiger Counter" (10-14-49)

The Geiger Counter (Aired October 14, 1949)


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."Beginning October 4, 1949, the show was adapted for television for the DuMont Television Network, but Bendix's film contracts prevented him from appearing in the role. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred along with Rosemary DeCamp as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. John Brown returned as the morbid counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell ("Well, I guess I'll be... shoveling off"; "Business is a little dead tonight"). Television's first Life of Riley won television's first Emmy (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television"). However, it came to an end on March 28, 1950 because of low ratings and because Gleason left the show, thinking he could find a better showcase for his unique abilities. Groucho Marx received a credit for "story."

THIS EPISODE:

October 14, 1949. NBC network origination, WRVR-FM, New York rebroadcast. Sponsored by: Hemlock Farms. Riley buys a geiger counter and discovers uranium...but on Gillis' property! Syndicated rebroadcast date: September 17, 1974. William Bendix, John Brown, Paula Winslowe, Jimmy Wallington (announcer), Irving Brecher (producer), Reuben Ship (writer), Alan Lipscott (writer), Mitch Lindeman (director), Barbara Eiler, Alan Reed Jr.. 1/2 hour.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - CBS Radio Workshop "Nightmare" (05-05-57)

Nightmare (Aired May 5, 1957)


The CBS Radio Workshop aired from January 27, 1956 through September 22, 1957 and was a revival of the prestigious Columbia Workshop from the 1930s and 1940s. Creator William Froug launched the series with this powerhouse two-part adaptation of "Brave New World" and booked author Aldous Huxley to narrate his famous novel. "We’ll never get a sponsor anyway," CBS vice president Howard Barnes explained to Time, "so we might as well try anything." The CBS Workshop regularly featured the works of the world’s greatest writers. including Ray Bradbury, Archibald MacLeish, William Saroyan, Lord Dunsany and Ambrose Bierce.

THIS EPISODE:

May 5, 1957. CBS network. "Nightmare". Sustaining. An experimental drama vividly portraying the stuff of nightmares. Interesting listening. Barney Phillips, Edgar Barrier, Elliott Lewis, Frederick Steiner (composer, conductor), Herb Butterfield, Mary Jane Croft, Paula Winslowe, William N. Robson (director). 24:37.

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Boxcares711 Old Time Radio Pod - The New Adventures Of Michael Shayne "The Man Who Lived Forever" (05-07-49)

The Man Who Lived Forever (Aired May 7, 1949)


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:

1949. Program #1. Broadcaster's Guild syndication. "The Man Who Lived Forever". Commercials added locally. The man's name was Anthony Correll and he is supposed to never die. What does the coiled snake on his forehead mean? A Peter Lorre clone shoots Michael Shayne! The program closing has been deleted. The date is approximate. Jeff Chandler, William P. Rousseau (host, director), John Duffy (composer, performer), Brett Halliday (creator), Don W. Sharp (producer). 26:50.

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Boxcars711 Moment In Time - Murder At Midnight - 2 Episodes From 1946

Boxcars711 Moment In Time - Murder At Midnight - 2 Episodes From 1946

The Murder at Midnight series was a thirty-minute broadcast featuring tales of the supernatural. The actors included Mercedes McCambridge and Lawson Zerbe and the show was narrated using the spooky, creepy voice of Raymond Morgan and always opened using the same gripping signature; “the witching hour, when night is darkest, our fears are the strongest, our strength at its lowest ebb… Midnight! … when graves gape open and death strikes!”

THIS EPISODE:

"The Man Who Was Death" (09-23-46) and "The House Where Death Lived"(12-23-46)

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Cisco Kid" - Run On The Bank (01-22-53)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Cisco Kid" - Run On The Bank (01-22-53)


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.

THIS EPISODE:

Program #54. Mutual-Don Lee network origination, Ziv syndication. "Run On The Bank". Commercials added locally. Not auditioned. Jack Mather, Harry Lang. 27:22.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Academy Award Theater "Vivacious Lady" (08-14-46)

Vivacious Lady (Aired August 14, 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.

THIS EPISODE:

August 14, 1946. CBS network. "Vivacious Lady". Sponsored by: Squibb Drugs. A comedy about a college professor of Botany and his secret, a former Broadway dancer. Lana Turner, Gerald Mohr.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Chase "Long Distance" (11-02-52)

Long Distance (11-02-52)


The Chase is an exciting Old Time Radio series in which every episode contains, well, a chase. Tales, highly melodramatic and often improbable, of people on the run. The concept of "hunter and hunted" was built into the signatures. with the lone bugle of a fox hunt, the braying of dogs, the sounds of a man running, a gunshot, and the slowing footsteps and eventual fall of the victim. It may be an adventure story, a crime story, or even science fiction, but there will always be a suspense filled chase.

THIS EPISODE:

November 2, 1952. NBC network. "Long Distance". Sustaining. A woman whose husband is about to be executed tries to save his life by telephone. Part of the final public service announcements and the system cue have been deleted. Abby Lewis, Bill Lipton, Cliff Oland, Connie Lembcke, Edward King (director), Gene Leonard, Fred Collins (announcer), Harry W. Junkin (writer), Jan Miner, John McGovern, Lawrence Klee (creator, writer), Martha Baron, Mildred Clinton, Pat Hosley, Rosemary Murphy, Sylvia Davis, Sylvia Lee. 29:10.

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Straight Arrow" - Land Of Our Fathers (1950)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Straight Arrow" - Land Of Our Fathers (1950)


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.

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Case Dismissed - Child Support (02-20-54)

Child Support (Aired February 20, 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:

February 20, 1954. NBC network, WMAQ, Chicago origination. Sustaining. The program is produced in co-operation with the Chicago Bar Association. A louse of a father plans to skip town to avoid paying his ex-wife child support. A program about child support and domestic relations. Harry Elders, Robert Carmen (writer), Betty Ross (producer), Herbert Littow (director), Rosemary Kelly, Muriel Monsell (?), Jack Lester, Claire Baum, Tom Evans (sound), John C. Fitzgerald (host, Dean of the Law School, Loyola University), Phillip Lord, Harold Witteberry (engineer), Lee Bennett (announcer). 29:09

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Mr. District Attorney - The Bank Killer (1957)

The Bank Killer (1957)


Mr District Attorney (1939-1954) 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:

Program #16. ZIV Syndication. "The Case Of The Bank Killer". Commercials added locally. After two men rob a bank and kill a guard, a clerk in a hardware store is not very helpful in solving the case. Phillips H. Lord (creator), David Brian. 27:44.

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Fighters" - Oregon 54-40 and Nevada Comstock Load (1935)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Fighters" - Oregon 54-40 and Nevada Comstock Load (1935)


FRONTIER FIGHTERS This is not your typical western drama -- it is a series that will transport you back in time to the days of the wild, unsettled west. Retrace the steps of heroes who, despite the odds, fought and conquered the West. Frontier Fighters was a syndicated series that ran sometime during the 1930s. Each show dealt with some bit of history about the early West and ran for approximately 15 minutes.

TODAY'S SHOW

Program #26. Broadcasters Program Syndicate/Bruce Eells and Associates syndication. "Oregon 54-40". Music fill for local commercial insert. The story of how Oregon became a United States Territory, without our going to war with Canada. Originally syndicated by Radio Transcription Company Of America (Transco). . 14:54.

Program #27. Broadcasters Program Syndicate/Bruce Eells and Associates syndication. "Nevada and The Comstock Lode". Music fill for local commercial insert. The big bonanza puts the state on the map. Originally syndicated by Radio Transcription Company Of America (Transco). . 14:45.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Air Adventures Of Jimmy Allen "Episodes 22 23 and 24" (1936)

Episodes 22 23 and 24 (1936)


The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen was a radio adventure serial created by writers Bob Burtt and Bill Moore, both of whom were from Kansas City, Missouri. The 15-minute program was broadcast from 1933 until 1947. The Jimmie Allen program was first broadcast February 23, 1933, initially over three Midwestern radio stations, WDAF in Kansas City, KLZ in Denver, Colorado, and KVOO in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Over the years, the show was produced in a variety of recording studios in Hollywood, New York and Chicago. Robertson is Jimmie's mentor. He does all the flying and continually teaches Allen a trick or two that he learned in World War I. After an exciting aerial dogfight near the end of the story, Robertson reveals that the FBI has made him a G-Man. In subsequent episodes of the series, Jimmie expresses interest in becoming a pilot and enrolls in flying school. Numerous exciting adventures follow, full of danger and mystery. Burtt and Moore wove the plot around the character of a self-reliant youth of fine habits: resourceful, courageous, capable of thinking his way through danger and holding firmly to "fine American ideals." They never deviated from that theme of the character, and they surrounded their hero with friends and enemies who personified other traits that would emphasize the character of their hero.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Night Beat "The Girl From Kansas" (06-05-50)

The Girl From Kansas (Aired June 5, 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:

June 5, 1950. NBC network. Sponsored by: Wheaties. A story of young love and old death. A girl from Kansas named Linda Johnson has been arrested for grand theft. She's bailed out by someone she doesn't even know. Frank Lovejoy, Frank Martin (announcer), Warren Lewis (writer, producer, director), Larry Marcus (editor), Frank Worth (music), Barbara Fuller, Gerald Mohr, Jeanette Nolan, Lou Krugman, Francis Chaney. 29:27.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Duffy's Tavern "Archie Wants To Patent Electricity" (02-23-49)

Archie Wants To Patent Electricity (02-23-49)


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 created the show, Ed Gardner.

THIS EPISODE:

February 23, 1949. NBC network origination, Nostalgia Broadcasting Corporation syndication. Commercials added locally. Slippery McGuire sells Archie a patent on electricity! Alan Reed appears as "Slippery McGuire." Ed Gardner, Eddie Green, Charlie Cantor, Alan Reed, Gloria Erlanger. 24:20.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Archie Andrews "The New TV Set" (05-21-49)

The New TV Set (Aired May 21, 1949)


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:

May 21, 1949. NBC network. Sustaining. Mr. Andrews has purchased a new television. When the family tries to watch a program, complications result. The concept of watching a television in your is treated as a novelty. Bob Hastings, Harlan Stone, Alice Yourman, Smith Hall (?), Gloria Mann, Rosemary Rice, John McGovern, Kenneth MacGregor (producer, director), Dick Dudley (announcer), Carl Jampel (writer). 30:03.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Screen Guild Theater "Call Northside 777" (10-07-48)

Call Northside 777 (Aired October 7, 1948)


The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio that was heard from 1939 until 1952 with adaptations from films in programs starring top Hollywood actors of the time. The show had a long run, lasting for 14 seasons and 527 episodes. It ran on CBS from January 8, 1939 until June 28, 1948, continuing on NBC from October 7, 1948 until June 29, 1950. It was broadcast on ABC from September 7, 1950 to May 31, 1951 and returned to CBS on March 13, 1952. It aired under several different titles: The Gulf Screen Guild Show, The Screen Guild Players, The Gulf Screen Guild Theater, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater and The Camel Screen Guild Theater.

THIS EPISODE:

Call Northside 777 (1948) is a documentary-style drama film noir directed by Henry Hathaway. It is based on a true story, in which a reporter tries to prove that a man who has been in prison for murder, was wrongly convicted 11 years ago. James Stewart stars as the persistent journalist. Richard Conte plays the imprisoned Frank Wiecek, a character based on Joseph Majczek, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a Chicago policeman in 1932, one of the worst years of organized crime during the Great Depression. The Movie was the first to be shot on location in Chicago and views of the Merchandise Mart as well as Holy Trinity Polish Mission can be seen throughout the film.

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Red Ryder" - Trouble In Milersville (3 Episodes Complete)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Red Ryder" - Trouble In Milersville (3 Episodes Complete) 1942


Red Ryder was a newspaper comic western hero, and was a natural for the radio kids. Known on the air as "America's famous fighting cowboy," he was still an upstanding cowboy action hero. The hero was first seen in a series of short stories by writer-cartoonist Fred Harman, who adapted it as a comic strip for the Los Angeles Times in 1938 before it finally became a radio show. For almost a decade, Red Ryder starred in half-hour cowboy adventures featuring a great cast of characters including his pal Buckskin and his little indian boy ward, "Little Beaver". The ranch homestead was cared for by the "The Duchess," actually Red's aunt. Red Ryder was always ready for adventure with his pals, Buckskin Blodgett and Rawhide Rolinson. Little Beaver was beloved by the kids who thought it would be great to be like Little Beaver and be in on all the western action! At one point, Red Ryder was pitted against The Lone Ranger in the radio "badlands," and did really well against the more famous and well established masked man. In the later years, the show played on the West Coast via Don Lee productions, as sponsored by regional bread maker Langendorf Bread. It remained a mainstay of West Coast juvenile radio for all the little pre-TV buckaroos. After the radio show went off the air, Red Ryder and "little Beaver" continued to please 50's kids who avidly read his latest adventures in the popular "Red Ryder" comic books.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Secrets Of Scotland Yard "Florence Maybrick" (1949)

Florence Maybrick (1949


In an earlier time, just prior to and following the Second World War, the general public was fascinated by the subject of crime. Numerous magazines of "True Crime Stories" filled the newsstands. Radio also helped fill the need with fictional heroes such as Johnny Dollar and The Saint. Few true crime dramas, other than Gangbusters or Dragnet, sustained long term success on radio. 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.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Academy Award Theater "A Star Is Born" (06-29-46)

The Tough Guy (Aired July 6, 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 6, 1954. NBC network. "The Tough Guy". Sustaining. Barrie joins in the search for a missing $30,000 in stolen loot. The system cue has been deleted. Lawrence Dobkin, John Roeburt (writer), Arthur Jacobson (director), Edward King (announcer), William Gargan, Charlotte Lawrence, Shepard Menken. 29:28.

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Have Gun Will Travel" - The Five Books Of Owen Deaver (03-22-59)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Have Gun Will Travel" - The Five Books Of Owen Deaver. (Aired March 22, 1959)


Have Gun Will Travel debuted on November 23, 1958. The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman-turned-gunfighter played 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 of course 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."

THIS EPISODE:

March 22, 1959. CBS network. "The Five Books Of Owen Deaver". Sponsored by: Fitch Shampoo, Pepsi-Cola, Fram Filters, Rambler. Owen Deaver, the very tough sheriff of Three Winds, sets his own laws, whether or not the townsfolk want them. The script was used on the "Have Gun, Will Travel" television show on April 26, 1958. John Dehner, Ben Wright, Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Al Pearce (Rambler commercial), Sam Rolfe (creator, writer), Frank Michael (adaptor), Paul Dubov, Helen Kleeb, Ken Lynch, Jess Kirkpatrick, Sam Edwards, Hugh Douglas (announcer), Georgia Ellis, Herb Meadow (creator), Bill James (sound effects), Tom Hanley (sound effects). 25:15.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Theater Royal "The Judgement" (11-07-53)

The Judgement (Aired November 7, 1953)


This fine British anthology series, features plays based on the best of literature, films and English theater. Produced in two series, Sir Lawrence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson serve as hosts, narrators and many times portray the leading roles. The program apparently was developed as a vehicle to capitalize on Olivier’s name and talent. His career spanned over 50 years and continues into the 21st century, as in 2004, 15 years after his death, he was starring as Dr. Totenkopf in a Hollywood fantasy film titled, Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow. This was accomplished by the producers who selected footage of Lord Olivier from various films and used to create a villainous leader of killer robots in the film. Jude Law, who stars in the film, said film-makers used Olivier because few other actors possessed his authority. Sir Ralph Richardson from 1954 – 1955 played the character of Dr. John Watson in another Harry Alan Towers radio series of Sherlock Holmes stories, which starred Sir John Gielgud as the famous consulting detective. Many fine actors of the British stage and screen were involved in individual episodes of the Theatre Royal series, such as Sir John Gielgud, Robert Morley, Harry Andrews, Muriel Forbes, Robert Donat, and Daphne Maddox. The music was credited to the renown British organist and arranger, Sidney Torch. However much of the same music was also used in other Harry Alan Towers productions on which Torch also worked, such as The Secrets of Scotland Yard, The Black Museum, and The Many Lives of Harry Lime. So how much of it was actually written for this series will probably never be known. Harry Alan Towers produced and directed the show for his Towers of London company for international syndication, at the time in Europe, South Africa and Australia. The episodes included in this distribution are from the initial US run on NBC.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The CBS Radio Mystery Theater "Witch's Almanac" (05-26-75)

Witch's Almanac (Aired May 26, 1975)


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!

THIS EPISODE:

May 26, 1975. Program #280. CBS network. "The Witch's Almanac". Sponsored by: Buick. E. G. Marshall (host), Ian Martin (writer), Virginia Payne, Robert Dryden, Jada Rowland, Marshall Borden, Dan Ocko. 52 minutes.

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