#old time radio
Places, please! We’ve got three old time radio mysteries set onstage, backstage, and in the aisles of the theatre. Actors, playwrights, and critics are all suspects, victims, and killers and it’s up to the detectives to figure out whodunnit before the final curtain. We’ll hear “Murder Me Twice” from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on July 5, 1948); a syndicated Boston Blackie mystery known as “Seven Years Bad Luck for Florence Wells;” and “Curtain Call,” another strange story by The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on August 27, 1947).
Grace and Bob Hope.
(Maybe someone knows the year and the reason for this meeting and will share this information - I will be very grateful!))
I don’t know for certain the circumstances of this picture, but I am willing to guess it was taken in May of 1954 when Grace performed with Mr. Hope on his radio program. You can listen to the show HERE.
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Mass media, 1930s style…
Blaupunkt Minden, 1972
Loewe Opta Radio 3D, 1955
Best known today as humanity’s last hope in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Kevin McCarthy lent his voice to a pair of Suspense thrillers in the later years of the program. First, he plays a juror whose wife has been kidnapped to sway his vote in “After the Movies” (AFRS rebroadcast from September 6, 1959). Then, he fights for his life in a sinking ship in “Dead Man’s Story” (AFRS rebroadcast from May 15, 1960). Finally, we’ll hear him in the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a production of The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, part of the brief revival of network radio dramas (originally aired on CBS on June 18, 1974).
In honor of Jack Webb’s birthday, we’ll hear three of the radio and TV legend’s old time radio mysteries. First, he stars in a waterfront mystery from Johnny Madero, Pier 23 (originally aired on ABC on June 19, 1947). Then, he’s Sgt. Joe Friday on the trail of a killer in “The Big Shirt” from Dragnet (originally aired on NBC on November 30, 1952). Finally, we’ll hear a Prohibition-era caper from Pete Kelly’s Blues (originally aired on NBC on July 25, 1951).
The wonderful character actor Everett Sloane steps back into the spotlight in three stories from “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him as a highway patrol cop in a dangerous mountain chase in “Speed Trap” (AFRS rebroadcast from December 8, 1957). Then, Sloane is a scientist with doubts about working on a weapon of war in “The Voice of Company A” (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1958). Finally, he plots a murder at sea and plans to disguise it as a boating accident in “Blood is Thicker” (AFRS rebroadcast from July 5, 1959).
It’s a full fight card with three old time radio mysteries set in and around the boxing ring. First, Frank Lovejoy is Randy Stone, coming to the aid of a fighter pressured to take a dive in Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on August 14, 1950). Then, as Philo Vance, Jackson Beck solves “The Heavyweight Murder Case.” Finally, Dick Powell tries to prove a fight manager’s suicide was actually a murder in Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on August 2, 1950).
Paul Douglas came out of the world of announcing and sportscasting to a successful career on the stage and screen. He went from announcing a World Series to starring in movies like It Happens Every Springand Angels in the Outfield before his untimely passing. We’ll hear him as a postmaster hunting for a mail bomb in “Fragile - Contents Death” (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1951). Then, he’s a newspaper columnist caught up in the middle of a spy hunt in “Man Alive” (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1952).
It’s a triple feature of the same mystery starring three different radio gumshoes. Morton Fine and David Friedkin wrote the story of a killer who taunts police with announcements of his upcoming crimes, and the clever tale comes to life in three similar but different adventures. First, Lt. Danny Clover investigates “The Jane Darnell Murder Case” on Broadway is My Beat (originally aired on CBS on August 11, 1949). Then, in London, Inspector Peter Black stars in “Three for All” from Pursuit (originally aired on CBS on November 10, 1949). Finally, Howard Duff plays L.A. gumshoe Mike McCoy in the audition recording for what would have been The McCoy (recorded on or around April 24, 1951).
The “first lady of Suspense” returns to the podcast! We’ll hear Agnes Moorehead in another production of the series’ most famous drama “Sorry, Wrong Number” (originally aired on CBS on September 6, 1945). Then, she stars in an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ eerie story “The Signalman” (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1953).
Real-life exploits of government agents come to radio life in these three adventures. First, an OSS agent parachutes into Germany in “Direct Line to Bombers” from Cloak and Dagger (originally aired on NBC on June 25, 1950). Then, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. plays a postal inspector investigating a mail bomb in “Death in the Mail” from The Silent Men (originally aired on NBC on November 4, 1951). Finally, Henry Fonda plays an agent hunting for a spy ring operating right here in the US behind illegal radio transmitters in “Spy on the Kilocycles” from The Cavalcade of America (originally aired on NBC on October 8, 1945).
Before he sang his way through 1776 as Benjamin Franklin, Howard Da Silva was a busy screen and stage actor earning raves for his villainous turns on Broadway and on the big screen. We’ll hear him as a cop on the trail of a cocky killer in “You Take Ballistics” (originally aired on CBS on March 13, 1947). Then, he recreates his screen role as a tyrannical ship’s captain as the Lux Radio Theatrepresents Two Years Before the Mast (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1947).
We’re heading west this week with three old time radio cowboy crimesolvers. First, William Conrad is US Marshal Matt Dillon in “Chester’s Murder” from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on January 15, 1955). Then, Jeff Chandler trades Michael Shayne’s fedora for a pair of spurs as western attorney Chad Remington in the syndicated drama Frontier Town. We’ll hear him in “The Case of Felipe Gomez.” Finally, big screen western star Joel McCrea is Ranger Pearson in “The White Suit” from Tales of the Texas Rangers (originally aired on NBC on November 5, 1950).
Whether she’s making us laugh or keeping us in Suspense, we love Lucille Ball. In this spotlight episode, we’ll hear my three favorites from her six visits to “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” First, she’s a dance hall girl trying to stay out of the clutches of a serial killer in “Dime a Dance” (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944). Then, she’s a hold-up artist who accidentally preys on a deadlier predator in “A Little Piece of Rope” (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948). Finally, she co-stars with her then-husband Desi Arnaz in “The Red-Headed Woman” (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949).
In his final appearances on Suspense, Victor Mature played an infamous Mexican outlaw and an undercover cop who falls for a gangster’s girlfriend. We’ll hear the star of My Darling Clementineand Kiss of Death in “The Love and Death of Joaquin Murrieta” (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1953). Then, he gets too close to a beautiful - and dangerous - woman in “The Girl in Car Thirty-Two” (originally aired on CBS on March 15, 1954).
We’re shining the spotlight on a pair of Johnny Dollar stars who tend to get overlooked in the history of “America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator.” We’ll hear John Lund as Dollar in “The La Tourette Matter” (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1953) and “The James Forbes Matter” (originally aired on CBS on July 28, 1953). Then, Bob Readick is Johnny in “The Paperback Mystery Matter” (originally aired on CBS on January 7, 1961) and “The Two’s a Crowd Matter” (originally aired on CBS on March 26, 1961).
June Duprez broke out as a star in her native England in films like The Four Feathersand The Thief of Bagdad. Unfortunately, when she crossed the pond to Hollywood, mismanagement by a producer and her agent kept her from landing big roles. We’ll hear her recreate one of her screen performances in “The Brighton Strangler” (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1944). Then, she’s a reclusive actress sharing her life story in “A Thing of Beauty” (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1944). Finally, she is a woman on a dangerous train trip with her unstable husband in “Your Devoted Wife” (originally aired on CBS on June 20, 1946).
With Hercule Poirot back on the big screen in Death on the Nile, we’re saluting Agatha Christie’s brilliant Belgian sleuth with three of his old time radio adventures. Harold Huber stars as the magnificently mustachioed Poirot in “Murder Wears a Mask” (originally aired on Mutual on May 3, 1945); “The Trail Led to Death” (originally aired on Mutual on November 16, 1945); and “The Bride Wore Fright” (originally aired on Mutual on November 30, 1945).
Click here to listen to Orson Welles as Poirot in “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” from The Campbell Playhouse.
And click here for Maurice Tarplin as Poirot in “The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor” from Murder Clinic, plus another Harold Huber Poirot mystery.
Actor, Rat Packer, and one-time presidential brother-in-law Peter Lawford made his final visit to Suspense in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ “A Terribly Strange Bed” (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1954) - the final episode of the show to be sponsored by Autolite. We’ll also hear him co-star with Shirley Temple and Arthur Treacher in “First Love” from the Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on May 14, 1945).
Click here to read the original Collins short story.
We’re going to press with three heroic journalists from the radio era. First, we’ll hear Casey, Crime Photographer mentor a rising star in “The Camera Bug” (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1947). Then, Frank Lovejoy is Chicago columnist Randy Stone in Night Beat where he investigates the case of “The Juvenile Gangster” (originally aired on NBC on June 26, 1950). Finally, a real-life journalist and his efforts to clear an innocent man of murder are the subject of “Pillars of Society” on The Big Story (originally aired on NBC on May 5, 1948).
Marsha Hunt began her career in Hollywood in the 1930s, but she was blacklisted after she took a stand against McCarthyism and the Communist witch hunt in Hollywood. Though she continued to act in films and television, she rededicated her life to philanthropy and activisim, and she’s still with us today. We’ll hear her as a long-suffering niece who sees an opportunity to get rid of an abusive (and wealthy) aunt in “Pink Camellias” (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1945). Then, she’s a woman with no shortage of lovers, a husband she doesn’t love, and a murder plan in “Self Defense” (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1947).
Gentleman thieves - both reformed and otherwise - step into the spotlight this week. First, Chester Morris is Boston Blackie - enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend - in “The Missing String of Pearls” (originally aired on NBC on August 11, 1944). Then, Orson Welles reprises his Third Man role in “It’s a Knockout” from the syndicated series The Lives of Harry Lime. Finally, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. stars as the legendary thief in Raffles, recreated for the Screen Director’s Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on September 14, 1951).
