Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Literary Murder (Aired January 26, 1944)

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.

The Nelson Bank (Aired February 27, 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. Their sons, David and Ricky, did not join the cast until five years after the radio series began.

THIS EPISODE:

February 27, 1949. NBC network. Sponsored by: International Silver. "The Nelson Bank" gets in trouble when the $17 on deposit disappears. Verne Smith (announcer), John Brown, Tommy Bernard, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, Henry Blair, Hans Conried, Alan Reed, Billy May (composer, conductor). 29:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Number One (Aired August 13, 1948)

The NBC University Theater - dramatic anthology Offered novels, with programs for college credit. Broadcast History : July 30th, 1948 - February 14th, 1951 NBC. Mostly 60 minutes. Mostly aired on Sundays, with occasional weeknight airings. Announcer : Don Stanley Music : Albert Harris, Henry Russell Director : Andrew C. Love Writers : Claris A. Ross, Ernest Kinoy, George Lefferts, Jack C. Wilson Sound Effects : Bob Holmes, Rod Sutton.

THIS EPISODE:

August 13, 1948. NBC network. "Number One" . Sustaining. A portrait of the seamier side of Southern politics and corruption. Barry Sullivan, Bob Bruce, Charles Seel, Dan Riss, Doris Singleton, Frank Gerstle, Henry Russell and His Orchestra, John C. Wilson (adaptor), John Dos Passos (writer), Marvin Miller, Ralph Moody, Shepard Menken, Tom Charlesworth, Truda Marson, Wally Maher, William Lally. 01:01:10. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Tell Tale Ribbon (Aired March 30, 1951)

Nero Wolf 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. 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.

Well Well Another Body (Aired September 23, 1945)

That strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn - where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff, before it is accepted for publication. Mystery House was a program in the 1950’s, but not your run of the mill type program. Actually it was more of a proving ground for novels. Dan and Barbara Glenn owned a publishing company named “Mystery House” located at 70 Park Avenue, New York City. Dan and Barbara decided to test some of their novels on a real listening audience. Each episode was taken from a novel they were planning on publishing. The entire staff at Mystery House was involved, everyone doing their part, whether it was rewriting to adapt it to radio, playing the parts or doing sound effects, everyone joined in. Sadly, not a lot is known about this series. Only 15 are known to exist.

THIS EPISODE:

September 23, 1945. Mutual network, WGN, Chicago origination, Harry S. Goodman syndication. "Well, Well, Another Body" . Commercials added locally. A body has been found in a front yard, by Mr. Richauver. He finds them all the time! Nanette Sargent, Forrest Lewis, Rye Billsbury (announcer). 24:46. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Operation Tomorrow (Aired April 11, 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!

THIS EPISODE:

April 11, 1950. Mutual network. "Operation Tomorrow" . Sponsored by: Ford. A professor sends his assistant 100 years into the future in a newly built time machine. Arriving in the year 2050, the assistant finds that the world has been at war for ninety-five years! Leon Janney, Charlotte Holland, Maurice Tarplin (as "The Traveler"), Robert A. Arthur (writer, producer, director), David Kogan (writer, producer, director), Robert Donnelly, Ralph Bell, Durward Kirby (announcer). 29:19. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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.

The Track Of The Cat (Aired August 6, 1948)

Launched as an experiment in July, 1948, The following is a quote taken from the Peabody Award web site: The response to the first five performances, which included "A Farewell To Arms," by Ernest Hemingway, "Noon Wine," by Katherine Anne Porter, and "Main Street," by Sinclair Lewis, was so vociferous that the network pocketed any misgivings it may have had, moved the show to a more desirable hour, and found the actors and the funds to sustain a series of absorbing and skillfully adapted programs. Unfortunately, the "University" in the title kept listeners away for fear of the shows being to "high brow". NBC attempted to change this view by removing the "University" from the title for a short time.

THIS EPISODE:

February 5, 1950. NBC network. "The Track Of The Cat" Sustaining. A story of family conflict, complicated by a murderous black panther. Andrew C. Love (director), Andrew C. Love (President and Editor of The New Republic and New York correspondent of The Manchester Guardian), Don Randolph, Don Stanley (announcer), George Lefferts (writer), John Dehner, Lee Miller, Lynn Milland, Lynn Whitney, Noreen Gammill, Ralph Moody, Steven Chase, Walter Van Tilber Clark (author). 59:58. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Late Special (Aired August 8, 1980)

NIGHTFALL was a horror series heard over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation first from July 4, 1980 to May 22, 1981 and then from November 20, 1981 to June 24, 1983. Thirty shows were selected from the first season to be rebroadcast on NPR from October 2, 1981 to June 25, 1982. Since it is a fairly modern series, most shows are available in stereo. Because it's a modern series, it's not widely available (copyright issues). This show may be the most horrifying series ever done. It was so terrifying, that many stations refused to play it or had to cancel the broadcasts due to listener complaints. This is a well done series and well worth searching for sources.

THIS EPISODE:

August 8, 1980. Program #6. CBC, Toronto origination, NPR network, WPBH-FM, Middlefield, CT. aircheck. "Late Special" . Sustaining. An excellent horror story about a man and a woman in a car wreck during a snow storm who are badly injured. "Tom," the conductor of a strange train offers to help, for a price. The WPBH-FM rebroadcast date is March 28, 1982. Henry Ramer (host), Clint Bomphray (writer, performer), Terry Tweed, Chris Wiggins, David Hughes, Trisha Allen, Judy Sinclair, Richard Donat, Frank Perry, John Jessop (recording engineer), Bill Robinson (sound effects), Nina Callaghan (production assistant), John Douglas (story editor), Bill Howell (producer, director). 26:22. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Blitz Murder Case (Aired November 18, 1951)

Whitehall 1 2, 1 2 Tweaked Jan. 12, 2006 This series was very similar to the Black Museum that was hosted by Orson Welles. Both the Black Museum and Whitehall 1212 drew their material from the files of Scotland Yard. The stories were true in every respect except that the names were changed to protect the innocent, as they say. The Whitehall 1212 series boasted that for the first time Scotland Yard opened its files and the producers promised to bring to the public authentic true stories of some of the most celebrated cases. Permission for these records came from Sir Harold Scott, Commissioner of the yard at that time. There is actually a Black Museum. This area is located on the lower ground floor of Scotland Yard and it does indeed contain articles that are closely associated with the solving of a crime. And "Whitehall 1212" was the actual emergency phone number for the yard at the time.

THIS EPISODE:

November 18, 1951. NBC network. "The Blitz Murder Case ". Sustaining. The first show of the series. A visit to the "Black Museum" and an exhibit of teacup fragments. A woman and her companion have been killed with a shotgun. Percy Hoskins (researcher), Wyllis Cooper (writer, director). 30:01. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

College Football Report (Aired September 22, 1957)

"After I replaced Jack Benny in 1957 they were unable to sell me with spot announcements in the show. That would mean that every three minutes I'd have to drop a commercial in. So I said, "Forget it, I want to be sponsored by one person like Benny was, by American Tobacco or State Farm Insurance," except that I wouldn't let them sell me to American Tobacco. I refused to let them sell me to any cigarette company. Freberg has two children, Donna Jr. (Donna Jean Ebsen, named after her mother, Donna) and Donavan Freberg, who was given his name on his fifth birthday. Before that he was simply known as "Baby Boy." Donavan Freberg explained, "As for how they decided on Donavan, my sister is named Donna, as was my mother. My dad had writer's block, so he just elongated Donna. Until then, they called me baby boy, a name I shared with the family dog, a freakishly small but very cute Yorkshire terrier." Stan Freberg's first wife, Donna, died in 2000, and he married Betty Hunter in 2002.

THIS EPISODE:

September 22, 1957. Program #11. "College Football Report" - CBS network. Sustaining. A sports interview, A Hollywood agent with canine clients, Bang Gunley: U. S. Marshall Fields (sponsored by "Puffed Grass" cereal). Stan Freberg, Billy May and His Orchestra, Daws Butler, June Foray, Peggy Taylor, Peter Leeds. 35:39. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Lady From Venus (Aired December 20, 1952)

The stories followed the 30th-century adventures of Commander Buzz Corry (Ed Kemmer) of the United Planets Space Patrol and his young sidekick Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborn) —- yes, Cadet Happy —- as they faced nefarious interplanetary villains with diabolical schemes. Not surprisingly for the time, some of these villains had Russian- or German-sounding accents. Cmdr. Corry and his allies were aided by such nifty gadgets as "miniature space-o-phones" and "atomolights." Episodes had such pulp-magazine titles as "Revolt of the Space Rats" and "The Menace of Planet X." The special effects used in the live half-hour TV episodes had to be performed in real time.

THIS EPISODE:

December 20, 1952. ABC Network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. Miss Bennett, the evil "Lady From Venus," has her eye on some illegal plutonium. Bela Kovacs, David DuVal, Dick Tufeld (announcer), Ken Mayer, Ed Kemmer, Larry Robertson (producer, director), Lou Huston (writer), Lyn Osborn, Mike Devery (executive producer), Mike Moser (creator), Virginia Hewitt. 28:22. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Medley (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, and Vera Lewis. Joan Leslie's singing voice was partially dubbed by Sally Sweetland.

The film was written by Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph, and directed by Michael Curtiz. According to the special edition DVD, significant and uncredited improvements were made to the script by the twin brothers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein. The film was a major hit for Warner Brothers, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning three.

In 1993, Yankee Doodle Dandy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and in 1998, the film was included on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies list, a compilation of the 100 greatest films in American cinema.

The Music Maestro Murder (Aired June 18, 1950)

The format of the Vincent Price run of The Saint bears a bit of exposition. The signature theme of The Saint over Radio opened all of the Vincent Price canon and beyond. Any sponsor messages usually prefaced the signature whistle and opening theme. The Trim Hair Tonic-sponsored regional run of The Saint from CBS' KNX studios provided three sponsor messages: one at the open, one in the middle and one near the close. From that run forward, Vincent Price would customarily close the program with a personal message directed at one of several pet causes. Though it's not currently known if this was at Price's request or the producers', one can well imagine Vincent Price requesting the closing appeal. The formula continued through the Mutual rebroadcasts and the move to NBC in June of 1950.

THIS EPISODE:

June 18, 1950. NBC network. "The Music Maestro Murder" aka: "A Sonata For Slayers" . Sustaining. A famous pianist is shot at the keyboard and killed. One of the suspects is Ludwig Von Beethoven! Sidney Marshall (writer), Alice Frost, Vaughn Dexter (composer, conductor), James L. Saphier (produer), Helen Mack (director), Doug Gorlay (announcer), Fritz Feld, Ted Osborne, Tony Barrett, Vincent Price, Leslie Charteris (creator), George Neise. 28:05. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Cabin On The Lake (Aired July 7, 1946)

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:

July 7, 1946. "Cabin On The Lake" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Fitch Shampoo, Fitch's Ideal Hair Tonic. At a resort, Janice Cole is found dead in her room. Her body promptly disappears while Rogue sleeps through his weekly hit-on-the-head. Rogue is then accused of the crime! This is a rehearsal recording or unedited tape. Dick Powell, Dee Englebach (producer, director), Leith Stevens (composer, conductor), Jimmy Doyle (announcer), Ray Buffum (writer), Peter Leeds. 30:53. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Carnival One Way (Aired December 8, 1953)

Frank Sinatra seemed very comfortable in the role of Rocco Fortunato--'Rocky Fortune'--and the scripts that George Lefferts and Ernest Kinoy wrote for Sinatra made for some fascinating adventures. The role was clearly written specifically for him, and more importantly for the more 'adult' persona his agents and publicity reps were trying to portray of him at this point in his career. He'd already done the teen and 20-something idol gig, and he had been expressing more of an interest in dramatic work. Perhaps Sinatra's managers were simply hedging their bets. Sinatra's greatest initial dramatic role in From Here To Eternity was released October 19, 1953, just weeks after Rocky Fortune began its 26-week run on NBC. As we all know now, From Here to Eternity was a box-office smash, propelling Sinatra into a whole new career in Film. Thus, as with Alan Ladd in his Mayfair Productions program, Box-13, Sinatra--and Las Vegas and Hollywood--found a far greater immediate demand for his talent on stage and in Film. The Big-Screen's gain was Radio's loss. Show Notes From The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

December 8, 1953. NBC network. "Carnival One-Way". Sustaining. Not auditioned. Frank Sinatra, Fred Weihe (director), Bryna Raeburn, David Pfeffer, Ken Williams, William Griffis, Leon Janney, Mason Adams, George Lefferts (writer), Ray Barrett (announcer). 22:51. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Red Stands For Blood (Aired February 13, 1949)

Each episode sees Jordan confronted with a "crime, a mystery, a beautiful woman, or a combination of the three". Precisely why Jordan is in Egypt is left deliberately vague, though he apparently has enemies in St. Louis so can't go back home. Sam Sabaaya (Jay Novello) is the police captain who apprehends the criminals at the end of each adventure. Sabaaya is portrayed as a diligent and competent policeman, usually as Jordan's friend and ally but sometimes as his foil. He is an Egyptian Muslim, is married, and has four children. Two further characters appear in some but not all episodes, Chris and Sergeant Greco. Chris is the bartender at the Café Tambourine, while Greco is one of Sabaaya's underlings. Greco has a particular dislike of Jordan, and invariably tries to make his life difficult, often by arresting him as the chief suspect in whatever crime Jordan is trying to solve. He's also ambitious and eager for promotion.

THIS EPISODE:

February 13, 1949. CBS Pacific network. "Red Stands For Blood" . Sustaining. Mr. Melnick wants to rents the Cafe Tambourine for the evening. He's a street photographer who actually doesn't want to rent the cafe. Jack Moyles, Gomer Cool (writer), Cliff Howell (producer, director), Richard Aurandt (original music), Larry Roman (writer), Larry Thor (announcer). 29:39. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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. "Quickest Way To Borrow Money" - 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"). 22:06. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Special Delivery (Aired August 7, 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 7, 1948. Program #5. NBC network. "Special Delivery" . Sustaining. The story of a dangerous and foolish letter. Harry W. Junkin (writer, director), Abby Lewis, Lon Clark, Scott McKay, Bernard Grant, Lanny Carvo (?), Mildred Clinton, Joel Marston, Roy Shield (composer, conductor), Richard P. McDonough (NBC supervisor), Bob Warren (announcer). 28:53. Episode Notes From The Bpxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod.

The Human Game (Aired August 1, 1951 )

As a detective--gentleman or otherwise--Rex Harrison lends a distinctively intelligent and understated confidence to the role. He's not quite as nonchalant as The Thin Man's Nick Charles, not as arrogant as Philo Vance, and not as melodramatic as Sherlock Holmes or Radio's Philip Marlowe. In short, he's both 'just right' and entirely fascinating--and competent--as detective Rex Saunders. Leon Janney's rendition of Saunders' assistant, Alec, complements Harrison's delivery of his Saunders characterization. Not the typical stooge assistant, nor quite as clever as Nero Wolfe's Archie, Leon Janney's Alec is given the same latitude as some of Radio's other more helpful detective assistants. Show Notes From The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

August 1, 1951. NBC network. "When They Track Down...The Human Game" . Sponsored by: RCA Victor. The system cue has been deleted. Rex Harrison, Edward Adamson (writer), Himan Brown (director), Kenneth Banghart (announcer), Leon Janney, Lesley Woods. 28:08. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

A Salute To The Great Outdoors (Aired August 5, 1947)

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

THIS EPISODE:

August 5, 1947. NBC network. Sponsored by: Philip Morris. "A Salute To The Great Outdoors". Frank Gallop (announcer), Milton Berle, Ray Bloch and His Orchestra. 1/2 hour. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Criminal Code (Aired January 18, 1937)

One of the genuine classic radio anthology series (NBC Blue Network (1934-1935); CBS (1935-1954); NBC (1954-1955)) adapted first Broadway stage works, and then (especially) films to hour-long live radio presentations. It quickly became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, running more than twenty years. The program always began with an announcer proclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lux presents Hollywood!" Cecil B. DeMille was the host of the series each Monday evening from June 1, 1936, until January 22, 1945. On one occasion, however, he was replaced by Leslie Howard.

THIS EPISODE:

January 18, 1937. CBS network. "Criminal Code Starring Edward G. Robinson". Sponsored by: Lux. A nice kid with all the breaks going against him gets ten years in the Big House, and finds love! Edward G. Robinson, Beverly Roberts, Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Nelson (performer, program opening announcer), Lou Merrill (doubles), Earle Ross, Louis Silvers (music director), Melville Ruick (announcer), Noel Madison, Paul Guilfoyle, Martin Flavin (author), Gladys Lloyd (intermission guest: wife of Edward G. Robinson), James B. Holohan (intermission quest: former warden of San Quentin), Walter Kingsford, William Williams (triples), Richard Abbott (triples), Ernie Adams (doubles), Justina Wayne (doubles), Joe Franz (doubles), Hilda Haywood (doubles), Margaret Brayton (doubles, commercial spokesman), Ross Forrester (triples), David Kerman (triples), Charles Emerson (commercial spokesman), Frank Woodruff (director), George Wells (adaptor), Charlie Forsyth (sound effects). 59:59. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Jersey Parallel (Aired December 7, 1950)

The premise of each episode is prefaced with a gritty, highly realistic line-up, replete with background atomospherics and actors realistically speaking over each other, but with an underlying investigation--or two--under discussion below the background noise of the introductory line-up and exposition. The subject matter of each episode was hard-hitting, often harsh, but highly realistic criminal sub-plots. The series is also remembered for the loss of one of Radio's finest and most popular voice talents. Wally Maher, still a relatively young man, had lost a lung to a protracted illness just months before the series first aired. By just over a year into The Line-Up's run, Maher was again hospitalized and passed away during that hospitalization. Raymond Burr, who'd already been introduced in a couple of semi-recurring roles, added his talent to The Line-Up for the remainder of its run in an effort to make up for the loss of Wally Maher. Show Notes From The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

December 7, 1950. CBS network. "The Jersey Parallel" . Sustaining. William Johnstone, Wally Maher, Eddie Dunstedter (organ), Jaime del Valle (producer, director). .A mad killer has shot 7 people. A police artist is brought into the case. 29:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Luigi's First Citizenship Papers (Aired January 10, 1950)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

January 10, 1950."Luigi's First Citizenship Papers" CBS network. Sponsored by: Wrigley's Spearmint Chewing Gum (one commercial apparently deleted). It's time for Luigi to get his first citizenship papers. J. Carrol Naish, Alan Reed, Cy Howard (creator, producer), Mac Benoff (writer, director), Lou Derman (writer), Mary Shipp, Hans Conried, Joe Forte, Ken Peters, Alger Mackey (Deputy Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, speaking from Washington, D. C.), Jody Gilbert, Sara Berner, Lud Gluskin (music director, Bob Stevenson (announcer). Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Bank Statement (Aired April 24, 1945)

Ole 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.

THIS EPISODE:

April 24, 1945. "The Bank Statement" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Johnson's Wax. Fibber tries to use the phone to complain about his bank statement. Phil Leslie (writer), Don Quinn (writer), Jim Jordan, Marian Jordan, Harlow Wilcox, Billy Mills and His Orchestra, The King's Men, Marlin Hurt, Shirley Mitchell, Bea Benaderet, Arthur Q. Bryan. 29:50. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Absence Of Mr. Glass (Aired November 29, 1946))

When we consider the question of clerics and mysteries, the first figure most of us think of is G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown. The first Father Brown story was published in 1910 in the Saturday Evening Post, years before Chesterton had even converted to Roman Catholicism. Forty-eight Father Brown stories were published before Chesterton’s death, and for many, the unassuming Catholic priest, who solved mysteries through close observation and intuition, remains the model clerical detective, unmatched by any subsequent efforts by other authors. Not that these authors haven’t tried. Their success depends on the same factors by which we judge any piece of fiction in general and mystery fiction in particular. Father Brown was a natural for radio and he has appeared in several series on both sides of the Atlantic, most notably The Father Brown Stories which were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1984 and 1987.

A Visit From The Draft Board (Aired January 12, 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.

THIS EPISODE:

January 12, 1951. NBC network. "A Visit From The Draft Board" . Sponsored by: RCA Victor, Anacin. Archie becomes smitten with beautiful Mary Ann, not knowing she's from the Draft Board! Archie accuses her of being a "Matzah Hari." The system cue is added live. Ed Gardner, Bert Gordon, Charlie Cantor, Cesar Concepcion and His Orchestra. 30:02. "Episode Notes From Boxcars711 OTR Pod".

The Big Walk (Aired November 16, 1952)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

November 16, 1952. Program #178. NBC network. "The Big Walk" . Sponsored by: Chesterfield. Sgt. Friday poses as a buyer of heroin from San Francisco to break up a narcotics gang. The Chesterfield commercials contain health claims for the products. Network, sponsored . Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, George Fenneman (announcer), Whitfield Connor, Harry Bartell, Lee Marvin, Hal Gibney (announcer), John Robinson (writer), Walter Schumann (music). 29:35. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Love Is Not All (Aired January 31, 1951)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

January 31, 1951. Program #68. MGM syndication. "Love Is Not All" . Commercials added locally. A fraud operating a Lonely Hearts Union cheats a woman out of $20,000 to start a nationwide fencing operation. He learns that C. D. N. P. The date above is the date of the first broadcast of this program on WMGM, New York, from which this syndicated version may have been taken. Ralph Forbes, Marx B. Loeb (director), Ira Marion (writer), Jon Gart (composer, conductor), Burton B. Turkas (technical advisor), Bob Williams (announcer). 1/2 hour. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Norwegian Incident (Aired August 20, 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:

August 20, 1950. NBC network. "Norwegian Incident" . Sustaining. 4:00 P. M. Two O. S. S. agents are sent into Norway with instructions to blow up a bridge. A Gestapo officer complicates the plans, but not for long. Berry Kroeger, Raymond Edward Johnson, Jon Gart (music director), Louis G. Cowan (producer), Sherman Marks (duirector, supervisor), Jerry Jarrett, Frank Barrens, Karl Weber, David Harmon (writer), Chet Hill (sound effects), Vic Gillespie, Corey Ford (creator), Alistair MacBain. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Professor Leonard Higgens aka: The Shrunken Head (Aired April 6, 1947)

It was written by Lawrence Klee and narrated by "The Clock." First Broadcast in the United States was in November, 1946. It was syndicated by Grace Gibson syndication. At the time of production, the Australian accent, we now know and love, originating from the Irish and Cockney accents, was rather frowned upon by non other than Australians. The shows tried to sound neutral, then there was hope that the show could be sold to Great Britain and the United States. The show was bought by the ABC network in the States, although the ABC on the CD label (below) stands for the Australian Broadcast Company. The settings were usually generic and the actors tried to speak without a perceptible accent and for that reason the program sounded sort of "American". They occasionally slipped up on a few words, using 'boot' instead of 'trunk' when referring to a car.

THIS EPISODE:

April 6, 1947. ABC network. "Professor Leonard Higgens aka: The Shrunken Head" . Sustaining. A mysterious traveler stops at a tourist court near Death Valley with a very large and very suspicious trunk. Bernard Green (music director), Berry Kroeger, Bill Craigo (announcer), Clark Andrews (director), King Calder, Lawrence Klee (creator, writer), Peggy Allenby. 22:17. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Chivalrous Gunman (Aired August 14, 1947)

The most distinguishing element of the short-lived Television Casey was its direction, with the famed future Film Director Sidney Lumet helming the series. CBS and Coxe took another run at Crime Photographer over Radio in 1954, reprising Staats Cotsworth, John Gibson and Jan Miner in their previous Radio roles. The 1954 run extended to the Spring of 1955, at which point the Crime Photographer franchise had pretty much run its course. The sleuthing photographer format didn't end with the CBS/Coxe franchise. ABC took a run at the concept with their Man With A Camera (1958), starring Charles Bronson, and running for two seasons, though it bore no resemblance whatsoever to the Casey, Crime Photographer franchise.

THIS EPISODE:

August 14, 1947. CBS network. "The Chivalrous Gunman" . Sponsored by: Anchor Hocking Glass. The witness to a robbery and murder refuses to identiy the killer. Robbery, double-cross and a double murder, with the bad guy brought to justice with the help of the green-eyed monster. Alonzo Deen Cole (writer), Archie Bleyer (music), Herman Chittison (piano), Jan Miner, John Dietz (director), John Gibson, Staats Cotsworth, Tony Marvin (announcer), Bernard Lenrow, Byron Winget (sound effects), Jerry McCarty (sound effects), William Pearson (engineer), George Harmon Coxe (creator). 32:06. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Double Diamond (Aired August 5, 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:

August 5, 1946. Mutual network. "The Double Diamond". Sponsored by: Petri Wines. A robbery has taken place aboard an airliner. A diamond's been stolen out of a diamond pendant...make that two diamonds! One of the passengers on the plane is a phoney southern colonel, who is called (with a straight face) "Mr. Keister." Gale Gordon, Harry Bartell (announcer), Dean Fosler (composer, conductor), Denis Green (writer), Anthony Boucher (writer), Howard McNear. 31:03. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Reefers By The Acre (Aired June 25, 1936)

Calling All Cars was one of the earliest police shows on the air. It ran from November 29, 1933 through September 8, 1939. It’s sponsor was the Rio Grande Oil Company, which is why the show only ran in areas where Rio Grande "cracked" gasoline was sold. The sponsor promoted its "close ties" with police departments in Arizona and Southern California, urging listeners to buy its product for "police car performance". As shows of this nature do, it dealt with tracking killers and robbers, and with a recap of the justice which was enforced.

THIS EPISODE:

June 25, 1936. Program #135. CBS Pacific network (Don Lee net). "Reefers By The Acre". Sponsored by: Rio Grande Oil ("Junior Detective Outfit" premium). The program opens with an address by a police chief originating at radio station KFBK. The search for "Mexican Jim," the man with warts on his hands, who runs the largest marijuana fields in the state! The story of the largest marijuana seizure. Jesse Rosenquist (dispatcher), Gary Breckner (narrator), W. M. Hallanan (Chief of Police, Sacramento). 29:28. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Bill Cosby Himself "On Stage" 05-20-83

Cosby was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is one of four sons of Anna Pearl (née Hite),and William Henry Cosby Sr., who served as a mess steward in the U.S. Navy. Cosby was the class president as well as captain of both the baseball and track and field teams at Mary Channing Wister Public School in Philadelphia. Teachers noted his propensity for joking around instead of studying, and he described himself as the class clown. At FitzSimons Junior High School, Cosby acted in plays and continued to compete in sports. "Cosby attended Philadelphia's Central High School, a magnet school and academically rigorous college prep school", where he ran track and played baseball, football, and basketball. He transferred to Germantown High School but failed the tenth grade. In 1956, Cosby enlisted in the Navy and served as a hospital corpsman at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.He worked in physical therapy with Navy and Marine Corps personnel who were injured during the Korean War.

THIS MOVIE

May 20, 1983. Filmed before a live audience at the First Ontario Concert Hall, in Hamilton, Ontario, Cosby gives the audience his views ranging from marriage to parenthood. The film also showcases Cosby's trademark conversational style of stand up comedy. For most of the performance, Cosby is seated at the centre of the stage, only getting up to emphasise a joke. Many of the comedic routines presented in the film were precursors to Cosby's most popular sitcom, The Cosby Show. An album of the same name was also released on Motown Records. The film is regarded by some as "the greatest stand up concert movie ever".

Blue Moon (Aired June 16, 1950)

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:

June 16, 1950. Program #11. ZIV Syndication. "Blue Moon" Commercials added locally. Mr. Cameron asks Slate Shannon to free his daughter from the clutches of Norton and his gambling ship, "The Blue Moon." Jester Hairston (singing transitions), Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, David Rose (composer, conductor), William Conrad, Gerald Mohr. 26:37. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Andy's New Job In Brazil (Aired April 22, 1947)

While often overlapping popular stereotypes of African-Americans, there was at the same time a universality to their characters which transcended race... Beneath the dialect and racial imagery, the series celebrated the virtues of friendship, persistence, hard work, and common sense, and as the years passed and the characterizations were refined, Amos 'n' Andy achieved an emotional depth rivaled by few other radio programs of the 1930s. Above all, Correll and Gosden were gifted dramatists. Their plots flowed gradually from one into the next, with minor subplots building in importance until they took over the narrative, before receding to give way to the next major sequence, and seeds for future storylines were often planted months in advance.

THIS EPISODE:

April 22, 1947. Program #63. NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. Andy has been offered a job at his uncle's "Rubber Plantation In Brazil". The Kingfish books his passage on a cattle boat! The script was subsequently used on October 14, 1951. Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll, Lud Gluskin and His Orchestra, The Delta Rhythm Boys, Ernestine Wade, Eddie Green, Carlton KaDell (announcer). 30:36 Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Missing Records (Aired October 23, 1948)

The model for all later American juvenile sports fiction, Merriwell excelled at football, baseball, basketball, crew and track at Yale while solving mysteries and righting wrongs. He played with great strength and received traumatic blows without injury. A biographical entry on Patten noted dryly that Frank Merriwell "had little in common with his creator or his readers." Patten offered some background on his character: "The name was symbolic of the chief characteristics I desired my hero to have. Frank for frankness, merry for a happy disposition, well for health and abounding vitality." Merriwell's classmates observed, "He never drinks. That's how he keeps himself in such fine condition all the time. He will not smoke, either, and he takes his exercise regularly.

THIS EPISODE:

October 23, 1948. NBC network. "The Mystery Of The Missing Records" . Sustaining. There's a plot to keep Frank from the big game by having him not have his eligibility papers. Lawson Zerbe, Hal Studer, Elaine Rost, Harlow Wilcox (announcer), Burt L. Standish (creator). 29:40. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Rickshaw Red Lipstick (Aired January 30, 1955)

Abbott Mysteries was a comedy-mystery radio program adapted from the novels of Frances Crane (1896-1981). Initially a summer replacement for Quick As a Flash, the series was heard on Mutual and NBC between the years 1945 and 1955. The Mutual series, sponsored by Helbros Watches, debuted June 10, 1945, airing Sundays at 6pm. Scripts were by Howard Merrill and Ed Adamson in the lighthearted tradition of Mr. and Mrs. North. Julie Stevens and Charles Webster starred as Jean and Pat Abbott, a San Francisco married couple who solved murder mysteries. In the supporting cast were Jean Ellyn, Sydney Slon and Luis Van Rooten. Moving to 5:30pm in 1946, Les Tremayne and Alice Reinheart took over the roles until the end of the series on August 31, 1947. Seven years later, the characters returned October 3, 1954, on NBC in The Adventures of the Abbotts, broadcast on NBC Sunday evenings at 8:30pm. The Abbotts were portrayed by Claudia Morgan and Les Damon. The NBC series ran until June 12, 1955.

THIS EPISODE:

January 30, 1955. Program #2. NBC network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Rickshaw-Red Lipstick". Les Damon, Claudia Morgan, Lotte Stavisky, Frances Crane (creator), Everett Sloane, Bob Hastings, Howard Merrill (writer), Dewey Bergman (composer, conductor), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Ted Lloyd (producer), Harry Frazee (director, recordist), Wayne Howell (announcer). 30:20. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Macabre - Weekend (11-20-61)

Weekend (Aired November 20, 1961)

The series arose out of an improptu competition between The Far East Network and The Armed Forces Network-Germany. Both networks sent 15 ips audition tapes to the AFRTS Headquarters in Los Angeles and FEN Tokyo won the 'competition'. The AFRTS transcribed and distributed the Macabre series on October 4, 1961-- a month before FEN Tokyo recorded a ninth episode of Macabre for Christmas Day, titled Of Frankincense and Myrrh. FEN Launches Macabre on the lucky 13th of November 1961. Launched, appropriately enough on the 13th of November, 1961, the series ran for nine weeks, including a special Christmas Day broadcast, "Of Frankincense and Myrrh," and ending on January 8, 1962 with "Edge of Evil." Note that in the article in the 'Provenances' sidebar below mentions a run of eight weeks. That's apparently the tenuous provenance upon which most of the misinformation about the true run of Macabre has been based for the past forty years. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group and The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

November 20, 1961. Program #2. AFRTS-FEN origination. "Weekend" . A weekend on a mysterious island with a mad doctor who is experimenting with a deadly drug. John Buey, Walt Sheldon, Bob Eddy, Hiroshi Ono (technical supervisor), Shirley Ashey, William Verdier, Milton Radmilovich, Al Lepage (announcer). 27:14. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "The Lone Ranger" - Webster's Big Fire (Aired April 1, 1942)

Tonto was played throughout the run by actor John Todd (although there were a few isolated occasions when he was replaced by Roland Parker, better known as Kato for much of the run of sister series The Green Hornet), and other supporting players were selected from Detroit area actors and studio staff. These included Jay Michael (who also played the lead on Challenge of the Yukon aka Sgt. Preston of the Yukon), Bill Saunders (as various villains, including Butch Cavendish), Paul Hughes (as the Ranger's friend Thunder Martin and as various army colonels and badmen), future movie star John Hodiak, Janka Fasciszewska (under the name Jane Fae), and others. The part of nephew Dan Reid was played by various child actors, including Bob Martin, James Lipton, and Dick Beals. The last new radio episode of the Lone Ranger was aired on September 3, 1954.

THIS EPISODE:

April 1, 1942. Program #1434/647. Syndicated. "Jim Blake"/"Webster's Big Fire ". Music fill for local commercial insert. The Webster Fur Company is trying to put its Mountain City competition out of business. Brace Beemer, John Todd, Fran Striker (writer). 29:01. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

They Who Sleep (Aired January 6, 1945)

The Mysterious Traveler spawned several similar thriller genre programs such as The Strange Dr. Wierd (1945), The Sealed Book (1945), Dark Venture (1946), Murder By Experts (1949), and The Teller of Tales (1950). The thriller genre was not new to Radio in the 1940s. The Witch's Tale had aired from 1931 to 1938 over The Mutual Broadcasting System and WOR. CBS had tried--and failed at--their own The Witching Hour for three months in 1932. Oklahoma Radio station WKY had successfully aired their own Dark Fantasy (1941) anthology of thrillers, which was immediately picked up by NBC for a national run. But clearly, The Mutual system and WOR appear to have acquired the inside track for the thriller genre for almost two decades during The Golden Age of Radio.

THIS EPISODE:

January 6, 1945. Program #55. Mutual network. "They Who Sleep" . Sustaining. How to transfer one man's soul into another man's body: your sister Rose is dead? Maurice Tarplin (as "The Traveler"), Henry Sylvern (organist), Phillip Clarke, Gertrude Warner, Jock MacGregor (director), Helen Claire, Robert A. Arthur (writer), David Kogan (writer). 27:08. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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. Guest experts: Alfred Hitchcock, Craig Rice. Guest stars: Ann Shepard, Larry Haines, Carl Eastman, Ann Sheperd, Bill Zuckert, Ralph Camargo, Burt Cullen, Lawson Zerbe, Marilyn Erskin.

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). 28:36. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Barbells Of Scotland (Aired October 16, 1953)

A couple of actors well known on other shows were Gale Gordon and Walter Tetley. Gale Gordon (Principal Conklin on Our Miss Brooks) was Mr. Scott, the long-suffering Rexall representative, doing stealth commercials for Rexall, again like the The Jack Benny Show and Fibber McGee and Molly had done. Walter Tetley (Leroy on The Great Gildersleeve) played the delivery boy Julius Abbruzio. Nice guy? No. Other characters included Alice's deadbeat brother Willie, ably played by Robert North, and announcer Bill Forman. The show was produced and directed by Paul Phillips.

THIS EPISODE:

October 16, 1953. NBC network. Sponsored by: RCA Victor. "The Barbells Of Scotland, or "Who Put The Muscle In Mr. Harris' Bussle?" The first commercial was added live. A set of weights and a derrick to lift them, play havoc with the Harris household. This is a network, sponsored version. Alice sings, "Hi Lili, Hi Lo," Phil sings, "Pease Puddin' Hot." Unedited tape, recorded October 2, 1953. The program is preceded by an audience warm-up by Bill Forman (briefly) and Phil, who tells the audience several jokes. The warm-up sounds as if it was recorded off the P. A. or somewhat off-mike. Alan Reed, Alice Faye, Anne Whitfield, Bill Forman (announcer), Edward James (writer), Elliott Lewis, Jeanine Roos, John Hubbard, Lou Derman (writer), Phil Harris, Walter Scharf and His Orchestra, Walter Tetley, Alvino Rey (member of the orchestra), Red Nichols (member of the orchestra), The Sportsmen. 30:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Barbells Of Scotland (Aired October 16, 1953)

A couple of actors well known on other shows were Gale Gordon and Walter Tetley. Gale Gordon (Principal Conklin on Our Miss Brooks) was Mr. Scott, the long-suffering Rexall representative, doing stealth commercials for Rexall, again like the The Jack Benny Show and Fibber McGee and Molly had done. Walter Tetley (Leroy on The Great Gildersleeve) played the delivery boy Julius Abbruzio. Nice guy? No. Other characters included Alice's deadbeat brother Willie, ably played by Robert North, and announcer Bill Forman. The show was produced and directed by Paul Phillips.

THIS EPISODE:

October 16, 1953. NBC network. Sponsored by: RCA Victor. "The Barbells Of Scotland, or "Who Put The Muscle In Mr. Harris' Bussle?" The first commercial was added live. A set of weights and a derrick to lift them, play havoc with the Harris household. This is a network, sponsored version. Alice sings, "Hi Lili, Hi Lo," Phil sings, "Pease Puddin' Hot." Unedited tape, recorded October 2, 1953. The program is preceded by an audience warm-up by Bill Forman (briefly) and Phil, who tells the audience several jokes. The warm-up sounds as if it was recorded off the P. A. or somewhat off-mike. Alan Reed, Alice Faye, Anne Whitfield, Bill Forman (announcer), Edward James (writer), Elliott Lewis, Jeanine Roos, John Hubbard, Lou Derman (writer), Phil Harris, Walter Scharf and His Orchestra, Walter Tetley, Alvino Rey (member of the orchestra), Red Nichols (member of the orchestra), The Sportsmen. 30:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Invitations To Dinner (02-20-49)

When Red Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie Nelson was prompted to create his own family situation comedy. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched on CBS on October 8, 1944, moving to NBC in October 1948, and making a late-season switch back to CBS in April 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 total 402 radio episodes were produced. In an arrangement that amplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television, the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network the option to move their program to television.

THIS EPISODE:

February 20, 1949. "Invitations To Dinner" - NBC network. Sponsored by: International Silver. Ozzie accepts a dinner invitation from a man whose name he can't remember. Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard. 29:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Key To Madison High (Aired June 5, 1949)

Produced by Larry Berns and written by director Al Lewis, Our Miss Brooks premiered on CBS July 19, 1948. According to radio critic John Crosby, her lines were very "feline" in dialogue scenes with principal Conklin and would-be boyfriend Boynton, with sharp, witty comebacks. The interplay between the cast—blustery Conklin, nebbishy Denton, accommodating Harriet, absentminded Mrs. Davis, clueless Boynton, scheming Miss Enright—also received positive reviews. Jeff Chandler played Boynton and stayed with the role for five years, even after becoming a movie star. He ultimately resigned because it was too exhausting to juggle a regular radio role with his film commitments. Others in the cast included Anne Whitfield as Conklin's daughter, Harriet. Arden won a radio listeners' poll by Radio Mirror magazine as the top-ranking comedienne of 1948–49, receiving her award at the end of an Our Miss Brooks broadcast that March. "I'm certainly going to try in the coming months to merit the honor you've bestowed upon me, because I understand that if I win this two years in a row, I get to keep Mr. Boynton," she joked. But she was also a hit with the critics; a winter 1949 poll of newspaper and magazine radio editors taken by Motion Picture Daily named her the year's best radio comedienne.

THIS EPISODE:

June 5, 1949. CBS network. "The Key To Madison High". Sponsored by: Palmolive Soap, Lustre-Creme Shampoo, Palmolive Shave Cream. Mrs. Davis leaves with the key to Madison High, and no one can get into school! Eve Arden, Jane Morgan, Jeff Chandler, Gale Gordon, Richard Crenna, Gloria McMillan, Hal March, Frank Nelson, Wilbur Hatch (music), Bob Lemond (announcer), Verne Smith (announcer), Al Lewis (writer, director), Larry Berns (producer). 29:58. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

June Gould (Starring Jack Webb (Aired September 12, 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. A lesser-known television version, still produced and directed by Webb but with William Reynolds in the lead, aired in 1959, using scripts originally written for the radio version.

THIS EPISODE:

September 12, 1951. Program #12. "June Gould" - NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. June Gould's mother has arrived in Kansas City looking for her, and asks Pete to help. Good radio, possibly dated September 15, 1951. Arthur Hamilton (composer), Dick Cathcart (cornet), George Van Eps (guitar), Jack Webb, Jed Demott ( bass), Joe Eisinger (writer), Matty Matlock, Moe Schneider (trombone), Nick Fatool (drums), Ray Sherman (piano). 29:47. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Blue Lady Murder Case (Aired November 21, 1946)

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:

November 21, 1946. Program #10. Mutual net origination, Ziv syndication. "The Blue Lady Murder Case" . Commercials added locally. A tough lady-gangster takes over the rackets, with a style all her own. Jackson Beck, Joan Alexander, S. S. Van Dine (creator), Jeanne K. Harrison (director), Henry Sylvern (organist). 26:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Case Of The Deadly Sell-Out (01-05-51)

Nero Wolf 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. Wolf 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. While both Wolf 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.

THIS EPISODE:

January 5, 1951. NBC network. "The Case Of The Deadly Sellout" . Sustaining. A prize fighter has disappeared, but Archie soon finds his dead body. A blackmailing dame is shot in Archie's arms. Rex Stout (creator), Edwin Fadiman (producer), Lawrence Dobkin, Sydney Greenstreet, Gerald Mohr, Don Diamond, Anne Diamond, Eddie Fields, Don Stanley (announcer), Charlotte Lawrence, J. Donald Wilson (producer, director). 29:07. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Case Of The Persistant Beggars (Aired January 26, 1947)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

January 26, 1947. Mutual network. "The Case Of The Persistent Beggars" . Sponsored by: Old Dutch Cleanser, Del Rich Margarine. The panhandlers of the city are unionized...and controlled by crooks! Lon Clark. 29:18. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Death Worshipper (Aired November 30, 1946)

According to Billboard magazine, talent and production costs for Murder At Midnight averaged about $5000 per program, one of the higher costs of canned, syndicated programming of the era. But the investment shows. And indeed, well into its almost six years of syndication, the series continued to pull respectable audience shares. The talent included well known names such as Lawson Zerbe, Karl Swenson, Berry Kroeger, Lon Clark, Frank Readick, Elspeth Eric, Mandel Kramer, Michael Fitzmaurice, Alfred Shirley, and Raymond Edward Johnson--and his wife, among many other well-respected east coast actors of the era. Anton Leader, later famous for his Television work, directed the series. The writing staff was also top-notch, with names such as Max Erlich, Joe Ruscoll and Robert Newman, among others. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

THIS EPISODE:

November 30, 1946. Program #26. KFI, Los Angeles origination, Cowan syndication, World transcription. "Death's Worshipper". Commercials added locally. A series of brutal murders is connected to a mad devil worshiper. Raymond Morgan (host), Jay Williams (writer), Anton M. Leader (director), Fess Johnson, Carl Emory, Charles Paul (organist), Louis G. Cowan (producer). 28:20. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index .

The Army Game (Aired October 29, 1936)

Calling All Cars was one of the earliest police shows on the air. It ran from Nov. 29, 1933-Sept. 8, 1939. It’s sponsor was the Rio Grande Oil Company, which is why the show only ran in areas where Rio Grande "cracked" gasoline was sold. The sponsor promoted its "close ties" with police departments in Arizona and Southern California, urging listeners to buy its product for "police car performance" in their own cars. As shows of this nature do it dealt with tracking killers and robbers with a recap of the justice which was enforced. The writer and director was William N. Robson.

THIS EPISODE:

October 29, 1936. Program #153. CBS Pacific net (Don Lee network). "The Army Game" . Sponsored by: Rio Grande Oil (Junior Detective Outfit premium). Two men are working a bunco racket, borrowing large sums of money on unknown properties. James E. Davis (host, Chief of The Los Angeles Police Department), Charles Frederick Lindsley (narrator), Jesse Rosenquist (dispatcher). 28:56. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Diehard (Aired September 8, 1953)

Mr. and Mrs. North are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple were featured in a series of twenty-six Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture, and several different radio and television series. 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).

THIS EPISODE:

September 8, 1953. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "DieHard" . Pam returns to her Alma Mater for a re-union with death! Richard Denning, Barbara Britton, Frances Lockridge (creator), Richard Lockridge (creator). 26:25. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Make No Mistake (Aired April 30, 1948)

Although Molle Mystery Theatre was initially sponsored by Molle Shaving Cream, other sponsors (such as Bayer Aspirin, Ironized Yeast, Phillips Milk of Magnesia) also sponsored the program. Sometimes, when it was not sponsored by Molle, the program was called "Mystery Theater". The show was first heard on NBC, on 9/7/43. Time slot was originally Sunday nights at 9:00 PM, but was later moved to Tuesday at 9:00 PM, and Friday at 10:00 PM. In 1948, the show moved to CBS (Tues, 8:00 PM), and in 1951, it moved to ABC, where it was called "Mark Sabre", and heard on Wednesdays at either 8:00 PM or 9:30 PM. The shows were tight and tension filled, with a fine orchestra score and solid production values. Classic tales from well-known authors, as well as modern unknowns were presented, and the endings were often twists or shockers.

THIS EPISODE:

April 30, 1948. NBC network. "Make No Mistake" . Sponsored by: Molle, Double Danderine, Ironized Yeast. A blackmailer tries to extort $10,000 from the owner of a diner and his faithless wife. There's a surprise ending. Alan Baxter, Bernard Lenrow (host, as "Geoffrey Barnes"), Dan Seymour (announcer), George Putnam (announcer). 30:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Milton Berle Show - A Salute To Baseball (04-20-49)

A Salute To Baseball (Aired April 20, 1949)

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:

April 20, 1949. ABC network. Sponsored by: Texaco. "A Salute To Baseball." Milton calls a baseball game as an Englishman, a Frenchman and a Chinaman. Milton takes his son to Ebbets Field. The program is also known as, "The Milton Berle Show." Milton Berle, Frank Gallop, Pert Kelton, Jack Albertson, Arnold Stang, Al Kelly, Charles Irving, Jacqueline Susann, John Gibson, Kay Armen, Allen Roth and His Orchestra, Alan Reed. 27:17. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Bungler (Aired September 14, 1955)

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 magazine.

THIS EPISODE:

September 14, 1955. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Bungler" . The story of a bank embezzler and stickup man who couldn't seem to do anything right. Martin Blaine, Don Briggs, Rosemary Rice, Robert Readick, Frederick L. Collins (creator), Betty Mandeville (producer, director). 22:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Extortion aka: The Seagull Shakedown (Aired August 3, 1945)

Stacy Harris had the lead role of Special Agent Jim Taylor. Others in the cast were William Conrad, Bea Benaderet and Jay C. Flippen. This Is Your FBI was sponsored during its entire run by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (now AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company). This is Your FBI had counterparts on the other networks. The FBI in Peace and War also told stories of the FBI, although some were not authentic. Earlier on, Gangbusters, and the previously mentioned Mr. District Attorney gave the authentic crime treatment to their stories. And Dragnet, and Tales of the Texas Rangers, took the idea on as well. Crime, especially true crime, was a genre in the magazines early on, with the Police Gazette and its predecessors in England printing lurid true crime stories prior to radio. This is Your FBI took the idea, and made it realistic, exciting and even informational.

THIS EPISODE:

August 3, 1945. Program #387. ABC network. "Extortion" aka: The Seagull Shakedown" . Sponsored by: The Equitable Life Assurance Society. A typewriter is the clue that enables the FBI to solve a case of extortion and nab a blackmailer who dabbles in murder. Frederick Steiner (composer, conductor), Stacy Harris, Victor Rodman, Larry Keating (announcer), William Woodson (narrator), Dick Beals, Georgia Ellis, Betty Lou Gerson, Lou Merrill, Vernon Rich. 30:26. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Point Of Impact (Aired March 24, 1965)

Theater Five was ABC's attempt to revive radio drama during the early 1960s. The series name was derived from its time slot, 5:00 PM. Running Monday through Friday, it was an anthology of short stories, each about 20 minutes long. News programs and commercials filled out the full 30 minutes. There was a good bit of science fiction and some of the plots seem to have been taken from the daily newspaper. Fred Foy, of The Lone Ranger fame, was an ABC staff announcer in the early 60s, who, among other duties, did Theater Five.

THIS EPISODE:

March 24, 1965. Program #168. ABC network. "Point Of Impact" . Commercials deleted. A missile with an atomic bomb warhead is heading towards an army base, but in an unihabited area! The program has an interesting surprise ending. Alexander Vlas Datsenko (composer), Ed Blainey (sound technician), Fred Foy (announcer), Glenn Osser (conductor), Jack C. Wilson (preparer), Joan Lovejoy, Larry Robinson, Lee Bowman, Marty Folia (audio engineer), Michael A. Hanou (? writer), Neal Pultz (audio engineer), Ralph Camargo (narrator), Robert Dryden, Stan Watt, Warren Somerville (director). 20:26. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Woman's Rights Convention (Aired June 18, 1950)

You Are There is an American historical educational television and radio series broadcast over the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks. reated by Goodman Ace for CBS Radio, it blended history with modern technology, taking an entire network newsroom on a figurative time warp each week reporting the great events of the past. Reporters included John Charles Daly, Don Hollenbeck and Richard C. Hottelet. The series was first heard on July 7, 1947 under the title CBS Is There. Its final broadcast was on March 19, 1950 under the title You Are There.

THIS EPISODE:

June 18, 1950. CBS network. "The Woman's Rights Convention" . Sustaining. The events of September 7, 1853. The start of a campaign for the right vote and equal rights for women. Sam Abelow (producer), Werner Mishel (documentary unit supervisor), Irving Gitlin (script editor), Minerva Pious, Grace Matthews, Don Hollenbeck, Ned Calmer, Jane Lyon (writer), Peter Lyon (writer), Mitchell Grayson (director), Bill Leonard, Larry LeSueur, Amanda Randolph, Guy Sorel, Ruth Yorke, Lesley Woods, Charles Webster, Burford Hampden. 29:00. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Secret Word Ink (Aired November 9, 1949)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

November 9, 1949. NBC network. "The Secret Word is 'Ink'" - Sponsored by: Elgin American. The first contestant is "Mary Cool." The system cue is added live. Groucho Marx, George Fenneman (announcer), Mary Cool, Robert Dwan (director), Bernie Smith (director), John Guedel (producer). 24:07. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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.

Conquerer's Isle (Aired November 21, 1956)

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:

November 21, 1956. NBC network. "Conqueror's Isle" . Sustaining. A flyer is forced down on a strange island and discovers a race of superior humans preparing to take over the world. The story was previously used on "Escape" on March 15, 1949 (see cat. #3035 and #11350). The nsystem cue has been deleted. Nelson Olmsted, Ben Grauer (announcer), Nelson Bond (author), Kenneth MacGregor (director). 28:18. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Case Of The Careless Client (Aired October 15, 1950)

The success of the 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.

THIS EPISODE:

October 15, 1950. NBC network. "The Case Of The Careless Client" . Sponsored by: Kraft. A private eye locates a man for a tough guy with a Greek accent (despite his very Italian name). The tough guy is soon shot in Brooklyn, in a furnished room. "The Falcon" is accused of the murder! The story has a surprise ending (for a change)! Les Damon, Ed Herlihy (announcer), Drexel Drake (creator), Mandel Kramer, Jackson Beck. 29:02. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Kindly Doctor (Aired May 12, 1950)

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. Hoskins knew every nook and cranny in London’s seedier districts and personally reported on many of the major crimes of the day.

The Corpse Said Ouch (Aired August 6, 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. Show Notes From shotsshack.blogspot.com

THIS EPISODE:

August 6, 1950. NBC network. "The Corpse Said Ouch" . Sustaining. Frances Blake visits "The Saint" in the middle of the night. It seems she's dead! At least, there's a dead woman that closely resembles her who's wearing her coat. The story is also known as, "Dead Girl's Diamonds." Vincent Price, Louis Vittes (writer), James L. Saphier (producer), Helen Mack (director), Vaughn Dexter (music), Don Stanley (announcer), Shirley Mitchell, Veola Vonn, Lou Merrill, Tony Barrett, Jack Moyles, Lawrence Dobkin. 29:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Big Heist (Aired November 20, 1949)

Rocky Jordan (Jack Moyles/George Raft) is the proprietor of the Café Tambourine located, according to the announcer, "not far from the Mosque Sultan Hassan," though he is originally from St. Louis. As an American restaurateur in a North African country, Jordan is somewhat similar to the Rick Blaine character in the film Casablanca, though the Café Tambourine is apparently a much less salubrious venue than Rick's Bar. The announcer describes it as being "Crowded with forgotten men, and alive with the babble of many languages". Each episode sees Jordan confronted with a "crime, a mystery, a beautiful woman, or a combination of the three".

THIS EPISODE:

November 20, 1949. CBS Pacific network. "The Big Heist" . Sponsored by: Del Monte. Jack Moyles, Gomer Cool (writer), Larry Roman (writer), Jay Novello, Cliff Howell (producer, director), Richard Aurandt (composer, conductor), Larry Thor (announcer). 29:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Rodeo Murder (Aired January 12, 1954)

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". The only recurring character, throughout the series, besides Rocky himself, is the long-suffering Sergeant Hamilton J. Finger - a solid, although not-too-bright cop who works out of what is frequently referred to as "the Irish clubhouse," who seemed to be constantly running into Rocky, whether he wanted to or not.

THIS EPISODE:

January 12, 1954. "Rodeo Murder" - NBC network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. Rocky is framed for murder at the rodeo. Tony Barrett, Ernest Kinoy (writer), Dan Riss, Marion Richman, Andrew C. Love (director), Frank Sinatra, Don Diamond. 23:15. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Two Faces Of Evil (Aired July 13, 1979)

Clearly one of the last big attempts to produce radio programming, with many of Hollywood's best. The 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:

July 13, 1979 - Sears Radio Theater. Program #115. CBS network. "Two Faces Of Evil" . Sponsored by: Sears Roebuck and Company. Mark Trella (writer), Howard Duff (host), Barney Phillips, Howard Culver, Byron Kane, Marvin Miller, Peggy Webber, Fletcher Markle (producer, director). 40:26. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Dark Victory (Aired February 15, 1951)

Screen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio and television 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. The series later had a brief run on television, focusing on original teleplays and several adaptations of famous short stories (such as Robert Louis Stevenson's "Markheim"). The radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949 to September 28, 1951 under several different titles: NBC Theater, Screen Director's Guild Assignment, Screen Director's Assignment and, as of July 1, 1949, Screen Director's Playhouse. 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, Ray Milland, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Loretta Young.

THIS EPISODE:

February 15, 1951. NBC network. "Waterloo Bridge"". Sponsored by: Anacin, RCA, Chesterfield. A melodrama of a love in the face of approaching death. Tallulah Bankhead, David Brian, Lynn Allen, Jack Rubin (adaptor), Norma Varden, Stan Waxman, Ralph Moody, Edmund Goulding (guest screen director), Bob Hope (Chesterfield commercial), Bing Crosby (Chesterfield commercial), Jimmy Wallington (announcer), Howard Wiley (producer), Bill Cairn (director). 59:57. Episode Notes Frtom The Radio Gold Index.

Rogue's Gallery - Triangle Murder Case (Aired February 21, 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. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

THIS EPISODE:

February 21, 1946. Mutual network. "The Triangle Murder Case" . Sponsored by: Fitch's Shampoo, Fitch's Shaving Cream. The managing editor of "The Chronicle" has been murdered after tangling with "The Alibi Master," an unethical attorney. Dee Englebach (producer, director), Dick Powell, Gerald Mohr, Jim Doyle (announcer), Leith Stevens (composer, conductor), Peter Leeds. 29:21. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Georgia Gray Murder Case (Aired April 28, 1951)

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:

April 28, 1951. "The Georgia Gray Murder Case" - CBS network. Sustaining. Georgia Gray has been knifed in a taxi dance ballroom. She was killed by a guy who bought $5 worth of tickets Alexander Courage (composer, conductor), Elliott Lewis, Joe Walters (announcer), Jack Kruschen, Tony Barrett, Frances Chaney, Martha Wentworth, Lawrence Dobkin, Joy Terry, Leo Cleary, Junius Matthews, Morton Fine (writer), David Friedkin (writer), Larry Thor, Charles Calvert. 30:05. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Dead Man Walks (Aired June 12, 1949)

Dan Holiday was purportedly a successful fiction writer for the Star-Times news magazine who becomes disenchanted with the utter, mind-numbing routine of it. Dan Holiday opts out. He posts an ad reading "Go anywhere, Do anything, Write Box 13". This had become a pretty well-worked theme by 1948. Perhaps a bit too reminiscent of George Valentine's "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," from 1946's Let George Do It. The gimmick certainly made for an open-ended range of potential adventures for Box 13's protagonist. And it resulted in some pretty outrageous assignments in the course of Holiday's fifty-two adventures. But adventures they are, which perhaps sets this erstwhile detective genre program as more of an adventure genre. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group and The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

June 12, 1949. Program #43. Mayfair syndication. "The Dead Man Walks" . Commercials added locally. A man Dan sees dead at 2:15 is alive at 4:20! Who is S. Thomas? Alan Ladd, Edmond MacDonald, Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Russell Hughes (writer), Sylvia Picker, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor), William Conrad. 26:46. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Murdered Truck Driver (Aired July 16, 1946)

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, it ran for 58 episodes, continuing in repeats over the following decade.

THIS EPISODE:

July 16, 1946. Program #66. "The Murdered Truck Driver" - ABC network origination, Ziv syndication. Sponsored by: Champagne Velvet Beer (of Indiana). A truck carrying no cargo load is mysteriously hijacked. One of the drivers has been killed and the other has vanished! Richard Kollmar, Lesley Woods, Maurice Tarplin. 30:15. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Key To Death (Aired September 15, 1952)

Bold Venture is a 1951-1952 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions. Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean." Calypso singer King Moses (Jester Hairston) provided musical bridges by threading plot situations into the lyrics of his songs. Music by David Rose. Beginning March 26, 1951, the Frederic W. Ziv Company syndicated 78 episodes. Heard on 423 stations, the 30-minute series earned $4000 weekly for Bogart and Bacall.

Crime Incorporated (07-03-40 and 07-05-40) COMPLETE

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. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

EPISODE:

July 3, 1940. Program #28. Fox Features syndication. "Crime Incorporated" Two Parts Complete". Commercials added locally. The Blue Beetle is unmasked and shot, but it's only a flesh wound. The "Magic Ray" helps the Blue Beetle break up the gang. 12:20. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Saint Patty's Day (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.

The Morgan Court Of Human Relations (Aired May 2, 1948)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

May 2, 1948. NBC network. Sponsored by: Ford. Fred and guest Henry Morgan do a satire called, "Morgan Court Of Human Relations." Allen's Alley question: "Are you interested in music and does it play a part in your life?" Fred Allen, Kenny Delmar, The De Marco Sisters, Henry Morgan, Minerva Pious, Al Goodman and His Orchestra, Peter Donald, Parker Fennelly. 29:05. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Old Man's Bride (Aired July 30, 1953)

General Electric Theater featured a mix of romance, comedy, adventure, tragedy, fantasy and variety music. Occupying the Sunday evening spot on CBS following the Toast of the Town/Ed Sullivan Show from 1 February 1953 to 27 May 1962, the General Electric Theater presented top Hollywood and Broadway stars in dramatic roles calculated to deliver company voice advertising to the largest possible audience. Despite a long technical and practical experience with television production, GE's previous attempts to establish a Sunday evening company program had fared poorly. In the fall of 1948 GE entered commercial television for the first time with the Dennis James Carnival, a variety show dropped after one performance.

THIS EPISODE:

July 30, 1953. CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. "The Old Man's Bride" . A wealthy Texas Colonel sends his assistant to New Orleans to fetch him a bride. Complications ensue when the messenger falls for the girl himself. AFRTS program name: "Playhouse 25." Van Johnson, Ken Carpenter (announcer), Wilbur Hatch (music), Hett Manheim (editorial supervisor), Jaime del. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

MOVIE-"99 River Street" (Released (USA) October 3, 1953)-MOVIE

99 River Street is a 1953 film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring "John Payne and Evelyn Keyes". It also features Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, and Peggie Castle. The screenplay is by Robert Smith, based on a short story by George Zuckerman. The film was produced by Edward Small, with cinematography by Franz Planer.

Ernie Driscoll is a former boxer who, after sustaining an injury in the ring severe enough to force him to give up prize fighting, is a New York taxi driver. His wife, Pauline, unhappy living a hard-up life, is having an affair with the much better-heeled Victor Rawlins, who happens to be a thief. An arrangement Rawlins made, to be paid for a batch of diamonds he has stolen, falls through; his fence indicates it is the presence of Pauline that has impeded the deal. In an effort to rekindle it, Rawlins kills Pauline and attempts to frame Driscoll for the murder. With the help of a female acquaintance (Evelyn Keyes), Driscoll tries to track down Rawlins before the criminal leaves the country.

The Case Of Matthew Cazzara (Aired November 24, 1945)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

November 24, 1945. Program #409. ABC network. "The Case Of Matthew Kozera ". Sponsored by: Waterman Pens and Inks. Matthew Kozera, a meek-looking but very dangerous gunman, is terrorizing Pittsburgh. The program includes "Gangbusters Nationwide Clues," which has resulted in the capture of nearly three hundred criminals. Phillips H. Lord (producer). 29:51 Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Frontier Gentleman" - The Rainmaker (Aired October 26, 1958)

Frontier_Gentleman J.B._Kendall John_Dehner Antony_Ellis Jack_Krusche Harry_Bartell Joseph_Kearns Virginia_Gregg Jack_Moyles Bud_Sewell Stacy_Harris Vic_Perrin Jean_Carson Charles_Seel John_Wald Jerry_Goldsmith The_Actress_(03-23-58) Jeanette_Nolan Lawrence_Dobkin James_Nusser Belle_Siddon's_Encore_(08-24-58) The_Rainmaker_(10-26_58)

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. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

THIS EPISODE:

October 26, 1958. CBS network. "The Rainmaker". Sustaining. The story of a Kansas rainmaker who could do just that...make rain! The public service announcements have been partially deleted. John Dehner, Joseph Kearns, Jack Kruschen, Stacy Harris, Virginia Gregg, Jack Moyles, Charles Seel, Antony Ellis (writer, producer, director), Bud Sewell (announcer). 25:36. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

A Delicate Case Of Murder (Aired February 20, 1942)

Dark Fantasy was a short series with tales of the weird, adventures of the supernatural, created for you by Scott Bishop. The series aired as a horror drama on NBC between 1941 and 1942. Dark Fantasy was a 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. Tom Paxton 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. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group.

THIS EPISODE:

February 20, 1942. Program #14. NBC network, WKY, Oklahoma City origination. "A Delicate Case Of Murder". Sustaining. A medium that can make the dead disappear has a husband who reveals her secrets and who wants a divorce. "Not while I'm alive," says the wife! The program may be dated February 13, 1942. Scott Bishop (writer), Fred Wayne, Tom Paxton (announcer), Georgiana Cook, Ben Morris, Eleanor Naylor Corin, Muir Hite. 27:11. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Operation Hot Foot Microbes (Aired May 18, 1951)

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.” 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:

May 18, 1951. NBC network. Sustaining. Steve Mitchell is sent to Trinidad for, "Operation Hot Foot Microbes." Brian Donlevy sings! The closing promotional announcement and system cue have been deleted. Robert Ryf (writer), Adrian Gendot (writer), Bob Cairn (producer, director), Don Diamond, Herb Butterfield, Robert Armbruster (music), Brian Donlevy, Jester Hairston (calypso singer, billed as "Lord Byron"). 28:12. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Dagwood Forgets Himself (Aired September 17, 1944)

Blondie and Dagwood live next door to Herb and Tootsie Woodley. The Bumstead family has grown, with the addition of a son named Alexander (originally "Baby Dumpling") on April 15, 1934, a daughter named Cookie on April 11,1941, and a dog, Daisy, and her litter of five unnamed pups. In the 1960s, Cookie and Alexander grew into teenagers (who uncannily resemble their parents), but they stopped growing during the 1960s when Young realized that they had to remain teenagers to maintain the family situation structured into the strip for so many decades. Other regular characters include a never-ending parade of door-to-door salesmen, the long-suffering mailman, Mr. Beasley, and Elmo Tuttle, a pesky neighborhood kid who often asks Dagwood to play. Cora Dithers is the domineering wife of Julius Dithers. Lou is the owner of Lou's Diner where Dagwood frequently eats during his lunch break.

THIS EPISODE:

September 17, 1944. Program #22. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "Dagwood Forgets Himself". Dagwood has a football accident and loses his memory. Arthur Lake, Don Wilson, Lenny Conn and His Orchestra (music fill), Penny Singleton, Hanley Stafford, Chic Young (creator). 36:45. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Premature Corpse (Aired February 12, 1952)

The Premature Corpse (Aired February 12, 1952)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

February 12, 1952. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Premature Corpse" . Who inherits the Hathaway money? There's no love lost in this family! Alice Frost, Joseph Curtin, Frances Lockridge (creator), Richard Lockridge (creator). 25:40. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

War Orphan (Aired October 7, 1942)

An NBC offering. Aired on Sundays from 7:00PM to 7:30PM, starring Lional Barrymore and Agnes Moorehead. The creator and writer was Jean Holloway, the announcer Harlow Wilcox, music by Gordon Jenkins and sponsored by Rinso detergent. The show was a perfect vehicle for Lionel Barrymore: rich with warmhearted humor, and good-natured grumbling, its "mayor" had a fierce bark but a mushy heart when confronted with the plight of an orphan or a stray dog. The mayor cared little about political advantage: he even found time, once a year, to turn the town of Springdale into a special theater, to give his traditional performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. THE CAST: Lionel Barrymore as the mayor of the town of Springdale. Agnes Moorehead as Marilly, his housekeeper. Conrad Binyon as the mayor's ward, Butch. Gloria McMillan as Sharlee Bronson, Butch's best girl. Priscilla Lyon as Holly-Ann, the mayor's granddaughter. Also: Will Wright, Sharon Douglas, Irvin Lee, Marjorie Davies, and other Hollywood actors. Producer: Murray Bolen; later Knowles Entrikin. Director: Jack Van Nostrand. Writers: Jean Holloway, Leonard St. Clair, Howard Blake, Erna Lazarus, etc.; Howard Breslin and Charles Tazewell wrote alternate weeks, ca. 1945. Orchestra:. Gordon Jenkins (ca. 1943); Bernard Katz (1945); Frank Worth. Sound Effects: David Light, Mary Ann Gideon.

THIS EPISODE:

March 21. 1943. CBS network. Sponsored by: Rinso."War Orphan" . The first show of the series on CBS. The mayor is asked to take care of an eleven-year-old war orphan. A heartwarming, tearful script. The system cue has been deleted. Lionel Barrymore, Harlow Wilcox (announcer), Bob Bailey, Jerry Hausner, Billy Roy, Agnes Moorehead, Jean Holloway (writer). 29:28, Episode Notes From The Radio Gokd Index.

2 Episodes - Legal Loophole (10-03-45) & Gloomy Room (10-12-45)

Having instilled a sense of foreboding in the listener, the script would launch into the dramatic exposition necessary to frame the ensuing plot. Each episode posed a crime puzzle of one kind or another--usually a murder under impossible conditions. Larry Haines portrays Andrew 'Drew' Stevens, a police lab forensic detective and Frances Robinson portrays his secretary--and love interest--Patricia 'Pat' O'Connor. Homicide Detective Sergeant Bill Morton is Stevens' local police contact. The format is tight by mystery standards of the era. The introductory exposition usually provides enough intrigue to involve the listener. Generally twelve minutes in length, the scripts necessarily contained enough exposition to explain or advance the plot. "Manhunt" was probably an unfortunate title for the series' premise. The series of plots didn't involve manhunts as much as crime puzzlers, such as the classic 'sealed room' murders so much the fashion in detective fiction.

The Ice Pick Murder (Aired September 16, 1950)

A 30-minute crime drama starring Dan Duryea as Lou Dana, a tough police lieutenant with a tendency to beat information out of suspects. Dana's catch phrase was, "I don't like killers." Bill Bouchey was Inspector Sherman and music was by Basic Adams. His sniveling, deliberately taunting demeanor and snarling flat, nasal tones set Dan Duryea apart from other slimeball villains of the 1940s and 1950s. From his very first picture--the highly acclaimed The Little Foxes (1941) in which he played the snotty, avaricious nephew Leo who would easily sell his own mother down the river for spare change--lean and mean Duryea had film audiences admitting his vile characters were guilty pleasures, particularly in film noir, melodramas and westerns.

THIS EPISODE:

September 16, 1950. "The Ice Pick Murder" - ABC network. Sustaining. A dead man has been found in a ditch, killed by an ice pick. Then, Harold Winthrop is killed by a gun. The corpse wore silk socks. Lieutenant Dana is one tough cop! Good radio. The system cue has been deleted. Charles McGraw, Louis Vittes (writer), Robert Armbruster (composer, conductor), Jim Backus, Joan Banks, Lawrence Dobkin, Lamont Johnson, Tom Tully, Helen Mack (producer, director), Arthur Q. Bryan, Maggie Morely. 28:38. Episode Notes From Radio Gold Index

Half Penny Stamp (Aired February 19, 1952)

The Man Called X was a old-time radio espionage drama series that aired on and off from 1944 through 1951 and sponsored by Frigidaire and later General Motors. Herbert Marshall stars as Ken Thurston, a globe hopping government agent. The show opens with the familiar line "Wherever there is mystery, intrigue, romance, in all the strange and dangerous places of the world, there you will find The Man Called X". Thurston works diligently every week to make the world a safer place by thwarting Cold War enemies and cooling off hotspots of unrest wherever they may be. The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra supplied the exotic background music.

THIS EPISODE:

February 19, 1952. NBC network. Sustaining. Ken Thurston travels to Egypt in search of a rare "Half Penny Stamp" on the back of which is inscribed valuable information. But first, there's a corpse to be found aboard a train! Beware of, "The Man With The Third Green Eye!" The script was previously used on "I Love Adventure" on June 13, 1948. Herbert Marshall, Leon Belasco, John Stevenson, Lou Krugman, Ed Begley, John Dehner, J. Richard Kennedy (producer), Sidney Marshall (writer), Jack Johnstone (director), Hal Gibney (announcer), Lucille Meredith, Milton Charles (organist). 24:42. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

No Electioneering (Aired November 8, 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:

November 8, 1949. "No Electioneering" - CBS network. Sustaining. Tomorrow is election day and Luigi's store is to be used as a polling place. Luigi and Pasquale are both arrested for electioneering too near to the poll. J. Carrol Naish, Cy Howard (creator, producer), Mac Benoff (writer, director), Lou Derman (writer), Lud Gluskin (music director), Bob Stevenson (announcer), Alan Reed, Mary Shipp, Joe Forte, Ken Peters, Hans Conried, Jody Gilbert. 30:13. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Newspaper Subscription Contest (Aired June 29, 1946)

The first Life of Riley radio show was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941 to September 6, 1941. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. 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.

THIS EPISODE:

June 29, 1946. "Newspaper Subscription Contest" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Teel, Dreft. Riley "helps" Junior sell newspaper subscriptions, which wins Junior two weeks...at a girl's camp! Alan Lipscott (writer), Dink Trout, Don Bernard (director), George Pirrone, Herb Vigran, Irving Brecher (producer), Jack Brecher (writer), John Brown, Ken Carpenter (announcer), Lou Coslowe (music), Mary Lansing, Paula Winslowe, Reuben Ship (writer), Scotty Beckett, William Bendix. 29:38. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Raising Carrier Pigeons (Aired February 27, 1940)

The Aldrich Family as a separate radio show was born as a summer replacement for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by General Foods's popular gelatin dessert Jell-O---which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldriches ran in that slot from October 10, 1939 until May 28, 1940, moving to Thursdays, from July 4, 1940 until July 20, 1944. After a brief hiatus, the show moved to CBS, running on Fridays from September 1, 1944 until August 30, 1946 with sponsors Grape Nuts and Jell-O,.before moving back to NBC from September 05, 1946 to June 28, 1951 on Thursdays and, then, its final run of September 21, 1952 to April 19, 1953 on Sundays.

THIS EPISODE:

February 27, 1940. NBC network. "Raising Carrier Pigeons" - Sponsored by: Jell-O. The Aldrich's have just hired a maid named Martha. Henry's raising rabbitts in the cellar. Henry and his pal Tommy are now raising carrier pigeons. Harry Von Zell (announcer), Clifford Goldsmith (creator, writer), House Jameson, Katharine Raht, Ezra Stone, Jack Miller (composer, conductor). 29:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Tales Of The Texas Rangers" - Helping Hand (Aired November 4, 1951)

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952. Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal, to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases. The series was produced and directed by Stacy Keach, Sr., and was sponsored for part of its run by Wheaties. Captain Manuel T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, a Ranger for 30 years and who was said to have killed 31 men during his career, served as consultant for the series. The series was adapted for television from 1955 to 1957. During the opening and closing credits of the TV show, the actors would march toward the camera and sing the theme song, "We are the Texas Rangers", to the tune of "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You", which is also the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad".

THIS EPISODE:

November 4, 1951. NBC network. "Helping Hand" . Sustaining. In November, 1950, a stranded motorist gets "help" from two tow-truck drivers who try to extort $15 from him. Extortion soons turns to murder. Joel McCrea, Stacy Keach (producer, director), Hal Gibney (announcer), Lillian Buyeff, Tony Barrett, Herb Vigran, Lou Krugman, William Conrad, Ken Christy, M. T. Lone Wolf Gonzaullas (technical advisor), Joel Murcott (adaptor), Monty Fraser (sound effects). 30:27. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Guy Fawkes Society (Aired October 10, 1948)

According to Holmes, it was an encounter with the father of one of his classmates that led him to take up detection as a profession and he spent the six years following university working as a consulting detective, before financial difficulties led him to take Watson as a roommate, at which point the narrative of the stories begins. From 1881, Holmes is described as having lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London, from where he runs his private detective agency. 221B is an apartment up seventeen steps, stated in an early manuscript to be at the "upper end" of the road. Until the arrival of Dr. Watson, Holmes works alone, only occasionally employing agents from the city's underclass, including a host of informants and a group of street children he calls the Baker Street Irregulars. The Irregulars appear in three stories, "The Sign of the Four", "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Adventure of the Crooked Man".

THIS EPISODE:

October 10, 1948. Mutual network. "The Guy Fawkes Society" . Sponsored by: Clipper Craft Clothes. 7:00 P. M. John Stanley, George Spelvin (a name traditionally used by actors who wish to remain anonymous), Cy Harrice (announcer), Arthur Conan Doyle (creator), Basil Loughrane (producer, director), Howard Merrill (writer), Albert Buhrman (music), Ian Martin. 29:43. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Homicidal Hobo (Aired February 15, 1938)

Calling All Cars was one of radio’s earliest cop shows, dramatizing true crime stories and introduced by officers from the Los Angeles and other police departments. The narrator of the program was speech professor Charles Frederick Lindsley, and the only other regular voice heard on the program week after week belonged to that of Sergeant Jesse Rosenquist of the L.A.P.D., whose name and voice were so unusually distinctive that he was retained for the show’s entire run. None of the actors on the show ever received on-air credit, but among the talent OTR fans can hear the likes of Elvia Allman, Jackson Beck, Charles Bickford, John Gibson, Richard LeGrand and Hanley Stafford, just to name a few.

THIS EPISODE:

February 15, 1938. Program #221. CBS Pacific network (Don Lee network). "The Homicidal Hobo" . Sponsored by: Rio Grande Oil. The owner of a railroad restaurant in Portola has been shot and wounded. A "message" is read from the sheriff of Plumas county. Jesse Rosenquist (dispatcher), Charles Frederick Lindsley (narrator). 30:15. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

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. Adhesive tape, stuck together and pulled apart, simulated the sound of a man's skin being ripped off. Pulling the leg off a frozen chicken gave the illusion of an arm being torn out of its socket. A raw egg dropped on a plate stood in for an eye being gouged; poured corn syrup for flowing blood; cleavered cabbages and cantalopes for beheadings; snapped pencils and spareribs for broken fingers and bones. The sound of a hand crushed? A lemon, laid on an anvil, smashed with a hammer.

Only Death Is Timeless aka: Mrs. Crocker (Aired May 11, 1947)

The series was written by Lawrence Klee and narrated by "The Clock." First Broadcast in the United States was in November, 1946. It was syndicated by Grace Gibson syndication. At the time of production, the Australian accent, we now know and love, originating from the Irish and Cockney accents, was rather frowned upon by non other than Australians. The shows tried to sound neutral, then there was hope that the show could be sold to Great Britain and the United States. The show was bought by the ABC network in the States, although the ABC on the CD label (below) stands for the Australian Broadcast Company. The settings were usually generic and the actors tried to speak without a perceptible accent and for that reason the program sounded sort of "American".

THIS EPISODE:

May 11, 1947. Grace Gibson syndication. "Only Death Is Timeless" . Commercials added locally. An Australian production of a script broadcast in America on May 11, 1947. A couple motors through the mountains with the mysterious Mrs. Crocker. Mrs. Crocker is "death." Grace Gibson (producer), John Saul (director), Harp McGuire (as "The Clock"), Lawrence Klee (writer), John Mullion, Joan Lord, Neva Carr Glyn, Gordon Glenwright. 24:44.Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Gunsmoke" - The Bottle (Aired January 1, 1955)

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and still remains the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes ("Law and Order" ended in 2010 with 476 episodes).

THIS EPISODE:

January 1, 1955. CBS network. "The Bottle Man". Sponsored by: L & M. An old drunk named Tom Cassidy is determined to kill a gambler named Bill Clell, for a good reason. The script was used on the Gunsmoke television series on March 22, 1958. Tom Hanley (sound patterns), Ray Kemper (sound patterns), George Fenneman (commercial spokesman), William Conrad, Parley Baer, Howard McNear, John Meston (writer), Lawrence Dobkin, Eleanor Tannen, Ralph Moody, Georgia Ellis, Norman Macdonnell (producer, transcriber), Rex Koury (composer, conductor), George Walsh (announcer). 30:31. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Cup Of Gold (Aired May 8, 1942)

Dark Fantasy was a short series with tales of the weird, adventures of the supernatural, created for you by Scott Bishop. The series aired as a horror drama on NBC between 1941 and 1942. Dark Fantasy was a 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. Tom Paxton 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. In the late hours of Friday nights these shivery, shocking stories go out over NBC - right straight from Oklahoma City, which you might not have thought of as headquarters for haunts. Station WKY is the home of the Dark Fantasy plays, and the writer is Scott Bishop.

THIS EPISODE:

May 8, 1942. Program #25. NBC network, WKY, Oklahoma City origination. "The Cup Of Gold" . Sustaining. Scott Bishop (writer), Eleanor Naylor Corin, Ben Morris, Muir Hite, George Anday, Tom Paxton (announcer). 24:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Happy Ending (Aired June 23, 1937)

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. Adhesive tape, stuck together and pulled apart, simulated the sound of a man's skin being ripped off. Pulling the leg off a frozen chicken gave the illusion of an arm being torn out of its socket. A raw egg dropped on a plate stood in for an eye being gouged; poured corn syrup for flowing blood; cleavered cabbages and cantalopes for beheadings; snapped pencils and spareribs for broken fingers and bones. The sound of a hand crushed? A lemon, laid on an anvil, smashed with a hammer.

Time Clash (Aired July 29, 1979)

The science fiction show was first syndicated by Watermark Inc. after Lee Hansen was hired as their creative director. After advancing the concept of an action-adventure dramatic radio series, Lee began developing the concept in the fall of 1978. Watermark premiered the first episode, "The Sun Stealers", on January 7, 1979. The series gained popularity thanks to its relatable characters, full symphonic soundtrack, realistic sound effects, high production values and documentary style format. Eventually over 500 US FM radio stations, along with stations in New Zealand and Australia aired the series. Between 1979 and 1980, 26 half-hour programs were broadcast at various times on weekends, where they gained favorable worldwide press acclaim. Alien Worlds was soon heard on a weekly basis by millions of fans and was eventually carried by over 1500 top-rated FM radio stations worldwide. The series' sponsor was Peter Paul, Cadbury which advertised Cadbury Caramello chocolates touting their caramel centers. Four additional episodes were produced but never aired. The show is currently available on Sirius Satellite Radio and on the Alien Worlds website. The series is being developed for 3-D animation for television and DVD release.

Overdue Rent (Aired March 28, 1947)

Young was featured in the film Chicken Every Sunday in 1949, and the television version of The Alan Young Show began the following year. After its cancellation, Young appeared in films, including Androcles and the Lion (1952) and The Time Machine (1960). He appeared in the episode "Thin Ice" of the NBC espionage drama Five Fingers, starring David Hedison. He is best known, however, for Mister Ed, a CBS television show which ran from 1961 to 1966. He played the owner of a talking horse that would talk to no one but him. Young's television guest appearances include The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Coach, Party of Five, The Wayans Bros., Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (Episode: "Sweet Charity", playing Zelda's older love interest), USA High, Hang Time, ER and Maybe It's Me. In 1993, Young recreated his role as Filby for the mini-sequel to George Pal's The Time Machine, reuniting him with Rod Taylor, who played George, the Time Traveller. It was called Time Machine:

THIS EPISODE:

March 28, 1947. "Overdue Rent" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Ipana Toothpaste, Minit-Rub, Vitalis. Alan enters a radio contest to win $75. He has to come up with a formula for a happily married life. Alan Young, Jimmy Wallington (announcer), Hans Conried, Charlie Cantor, Jim Backus, Jerry Mann, Veola Vonn, Ruth Perrott, Dick Lane, Al Schwartz (writer), Sherwood Schwartz (writer). 29:44. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Help Wanted (Aired August 13, 1945)

The Bulldog Drummond stories followed Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, D.S.O., M.C., a wealthy former WWI officer of the fictional Loamshire Regiment, who, after the war, spends his new-found leisure time as a private detective. Drummond is a proto-James Bond figure and a version of the imperial adventurers depicted by the likes of John Buchan. In terms of the detective genre, the first Bulldog Drummond novel was published after the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Nayland Smith/Fu Manchu novels and Richard Hannay's first three adventures including The Thirty-Nine Steps. The character first appeared in the novel Bulldog Drummond (1920), and this was followed by a lengthy series of books and adaptations for films, radio and television.

THIS EPISODE:

August 13, 1945. Mutual network. "Help Wanted" . Music fill for local commercial insert. Captain Drummond is away doing war work, so his valet Denny hires his own valet and solves a murder by himself. 28:49. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Dick Foley Caper (Aired September 26, 1948)

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.

THIS EPISODE:

September 26, 1948. CBS network. "The Dick Foley Caper" . Sponsored by: Wildroot Cream-Oil. A fellow detective asks Spade to find Claude Spicer, who shortly thereafter is found dead. Sam finds himself floating in San Francisco Bay! The date is subject to correction. Dashiell Hammett (creator), Dick Joy (announcer), Frank Lovejoy, Gil Doud (writer), Howard Duff, Lud Gluskin, Lurene Tuttle, Rene Garriguenc (composer), Robert Tallman (adaptor), William Spier (producer, director, editor). 29:06. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Adventure Of The Silent Heart (Aired July 17, 1949)

The Adventures of Frank Race was a syndicated show, out of Bruce Ells Productions in Hollywood, and began airing on radio in the spring of 1949. A total of 43 episodes were produced, broadcast first on the East coast 1949-50, and then on the West coast 1951-52. The title hero was described in the introduction by announcer Art Gilmore with these words: "Before the war, FRANK RACE worked as an attorney, but he traded his law books for the cloak-and-dagger of the OSS. When the war was over, his former life was over too....adventure became his business!" Starring "Chandu The Magician" Star Tom Collins.

THIS EPISODE:

July 17, 1949. Program #12. Broadcasters Program Syndicate syndication. "The Adventure Of The Silent Heart". Commercials added locally. Frank comes upon a rash of heart attacks, with insurance polices for all the victims. Tom Collins, Tony Barrett, Buckley Angel (writer, director), Joel Murcott (writer, director), Bruce Eells (producer), Ivan Ditmars (organist), Art Gilmore (announcer), Virginia Gregg, Wilms Herbert, Theodore Von Eltz, Jack Kruschen, Michael Ann Barrett. 28:10. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Statue Of Death (Aired August 16, 1949)

The show was at the top of the list among programs that had developed the technique of sound effects to a fine art. Each program was written with the sound in mind, not so much sound for sound's sake, but to advance the plot, add color or create atmosphere. Two sound effects men spent a reported ten hours in rehearsal for each broadcast, in addition to the time spent by the actors. East coast actors House Jameson, Don MacLaughlin, Phil Sterling and Lawson Zerbe [MBS] (Zerbe appeared as both David Harding and Harry Peters) were the only four actors to ever assume the role of David Harding--Jameson for the first two episodes only, replaced by Don MacLaughlin for the remainder of its twelve year run. Show Notes From The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

August 16, 1949. ABC network. "The Case Of The Statue Of Death". Sponsored by: Pepsi Cola. An electric eye is outsmarted. A gift of appreciation causes the death of an innocent woman. Molecules of murder! The system cue has been deleted. Don MacLaughlin, Mandel Kramer, Phillips H. Lord (producer), Jesse Crawford (organ). 29:16. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Room At The Bottom (Aired June 29, 1969)

Dad's Army" as the platoon mainly consist of Old Soldiers.From week to week they would become entangled in many exploits while defending Walmington from a possible invasion and any interference from the Local Air Raid Warden. Although a comedy series, "Dad's Army" probably depicted more of an accurate version of the Home Guard than anyone could actually realise. Initially it was felt the series was maybe mocking England's finest hour and its first episodes were reviewed with great criticism. However, Jimmy Perry , David Croft and the cast felt that the show had many strengths and so did the steady flow of the British public which began following the Walmington-On-Sea platoon's exploits on Television each week. In 1969, "Dad's Army" embarked on its first Colour TV series, and with that success followed. A feature length film based on the series was made by Columbia Pictures in 1971, and a stage show based on the series toured the UK between 1975 - 76.

THIS EPISODE:

June 29, 1969. S01 - E17 "Room At The Bottom" . It's determined by GHQ that Captain Mainwaring has never held a commission, and he is demoted to Private. Sergeant Wilson takes temporary charge as Mainwaring attempts to regain his command. (Although made in colour, this episode survived only as a 16mm black & white film recording. A new technology, developed by the BBC, allowed the hidden colour signal which had accidentally been preserved in the monochrome film print to be used to restore the episode to colour. The restored version was broadcast on BBC 2 on 13th December 2008. 27:38.

Eddie (Aired March 19, 1953)

During a period when most other producers and directors were focusing on and expressing their newest innovations over Television, Elliott Lewis and his wife, Cathy, joined forces to demonstrate--perhaps one last time--the extraordinary versatility and appeal of well mounted, well produced, well written and well performed Radio Drama. Throughout the period during which Cathy & Elliott Lewis On Stage aired, both performers were actively involved in either co-starring roles or key production roles in separate productions of their own. Elliott Lewis was directing many episodes of Suspense and other dramatic productions of the era, as well as producing, directing, writing and performing in his own production, Crime Classics. Cathy Lewis, for her part, was not only appearing in a customarily wide variety of independent dramatic Radio productions, but was also co-starring in the Television version of the popular situation comedy, My Friend Irma, a role she'd starred in for six years over Radio. Show Notes From The Digital Deli.

THIS EPISODE:

March 19, 1953. CBS network. "Eddie" . Sustaining. An insane young man makes a "date" with a girl, despite a definite lack of interest on the part of the girl. Good radio! Cathy Lewis, Clayton Post, E. Jack Neuman (writer), Elliott Lewis, Frederick Steiner (composer, conductor), George Walsh (announcer), Jerry Hausner, Lud Gluskin, Peggy Webber, Ray Noble (theme composer). 29:08. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.