Month: April 2014

EP1247: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silent Queen Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey

Johnny looks for the preacher as he investigates the death of a silent screen star.

Original Air Date: October 31 and November 1, 1956

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe

EP1246: Pat Novak for Hire: The Jack of Clubs

Jack Webb
A thousand dollars appears in Pat Novak’s bank account and the FBI is on his trail and he doesn’t know what it’s about.

Original Air Date: February 20, 1949

Support the show…http://support.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

 

EP1245: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silent Queen Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny investigates the murder of a penny arcade operator.

Original Air Dates: October 29 and 30, 1956

When making your travel plans remember http://johnnydollarair.com

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

EP1244: Police Headquarters: Payroll Robbery and Helen Marsh Killed

A payroll is robbed right from under the noses of two police officers.

An actress is murdered backstage at a theater.

Episodes 7 and 8

Original Air Date: 1932

Support the show http://support.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

DVD Review: The Saint Double Feature

In 1941, George Sanders left the role Simon Templar in the Saint series and was replaced by Hugh Sinclair.

The contrasts between Sanders and Sinclair is pretty striking.  For Sanders, the Saint was an early highlight of a career that would see him earn parts in A pictures and even earn an Academy Award. For Sinclair, this was as good as it got.  Sinclair just didn’t have the presence that Sanders did, and so both of his Saint films were below Sanders best stories. Though both films were better than Sanders subpar The Saint’s Double Trouble.  

The Saint’s Vacation (1941)  is the better of the two films and truthfully above average when compared to most 1940s B detective features. The Saint is on vacation and gets involved in international intrigue over a music box which serves as the stories Macguffin. It’s not an original idea, but the execution of it in this film is pretty enjoyable. The end is somewhat frustrating and drawn out particularly since we never get to find out what exactly the hubbub was about other than that it was a Macguff.

The Saint Meets the Tiger  (1943) is based on the first Saint Novel and finds the Saint on the trail of international gold smugglers. Most of the movie is a little boring and hard to follow, so it’s a bit below average. However, at the end of the movie, a madcap scene where the Saint’s sidekick and girlfriend are knocking people out aboard a ship really livens things up.

So in short,  the two films are almost mere images of each other. The Saint’s Vacation is an above average film that’s pretty interesting in the beginning but is bogged down by a slow ending. The Saint Meets the Tiger is a below average film that’s propped up by an ending that’s a lot more fun than the film itself.

Overall, I’d give the DVD 3.0 out of 5.0 and recommend it only for Saint completists at its retail price.

 

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that items purchased from these links may result in a commission being paid to the author of this post at no extra cost to the purchaser.

EP1243: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Parts Eight and Nine

Bob Bailey

Johnny has to escape a remote island and find the elusive Tom Chase.

Original Air Dates: October 25 and 26, 1956

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com 

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

EP1242: Nick Carter: Four Rings of Death

Lon Clark

Nick goes to Tory Island to search for missing treasure and murder follows.

Original Air Date: February 25, 1945

Support the show… http://support.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe with any other reader.

EP1241: Lux Radio Theatre: Murder My Sweet

Dick Powell

Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) becomes involved in a mixed up case of stolen jade, a missing girlfriend,  blackmail, and narcotics.

Original Air Date: June 11, 1945

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com 

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

 

EP1240: Casebook of Gregory Hood: The Carnival of Death

Jackson Beck

An old girlfriend of Greg’s turns to him for help when she’s blackmailed over a gambling debt she acquired at a carnival.

Original Air Date: October 15, 1949

Support the show…http://support.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook….http://facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take our listener survey: http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podca1st to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

 

EP1239: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Part Six and Seven

Bob Bailey
After nearly escaping death, Johnny tries to track down the woman who claimed to know where Tom Chase is.

Original Air Dates: October 22 and 24, 1956

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

EP1238: Police Headquarters: Track Five and Double Death

The police search for a jewel robber in “Track Five.”

A mobster is murdered but appears to have been killed twice in “Double Death.”

Episodes 5 and 6

Original Air Date: 1932

Support the show…http://support.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

 

Book Review: Fit to Kill

It’s the 1ate 1950s and Shayne’s reporter friend Tim Rourke is on vacation in a Latin American country with a corrupt government when he meets a beautiful blonde claiming to have hot information.

Shayne is at the airport to meet Rourke, who acts out of character. Then Rourke is kidnapped while the girl disappears and Shayne is left with a lot of questions and a typewriter.

The story is okay, it’s not as good as the other two Shayne mysteries I’ve read, but Halliday provides your expected dose of mayhem, danger, and beautiful blondes.

This one suffered for having Shayne out of the picture for the first 30 percent of the book. Rourke isn’t a fun point of view character. Plus in the middle of the book, Rourke gets kind of drunk and those scenes read like   poor imitation of Craig Rice’s Mr. Malone. The solution is all a bit unsurprising and it wasn’t well set up.

Overall, Mike Shayne is still good and it’s not a bad read, but Halliday had produced far better books than this one.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0

The copy I read plus another Michael Shayne mystery are available on request with the first donation received of $50 or more for listeners in the US or Canada.  See details here.

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that items purchased from these links may result in a commission being paid to the author of this post at no extra cost to the purchaser.

EP1237: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Part Five and Manhunt: The Clue of the Crimson Corpse

Bob Bailey

Johnny gets a clue and heads to Haiti, then to Cuba, and finally in Barbados in pursuit of Tom Chase.

Original Air Date:  October 19, 1956

A dead body appears in the window of a busy store in the middle of the day.

Original Air Date: April 8, 1944

When making your travel plans remember http://johnnydollarair.com

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

EP1236: Nick Carter: Mind over Murder

Lon Clark
A man who doesn’t remember who he is hires Nick to find out, he’s particularly interested to discover if he’s a criminal.

Original Air Date: February 18, 1945

Support the show…http://support.greatdetectives.net

Take our listener survey: http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.

EP1235: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey
Johnny hopes a shady information will lead him to the missing Mr. Chase.

Original Air Dates: October 17 and 18, 1956

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com 

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

Click here to download, click here to add this podcast to your Itunes, click here to subscribe.