Month: April 2019

EP2803: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Matter: The Donniger Donniger Matter

Mandel Kramer

Johnny has to find a beneficiary whose trying to take advantage of a clause in the policy that allows him to collect an additional $1,000 per week if the insurance company can’t find him in 10 days.

Original Air Date: September 2, 1962
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EP2802: Boston Blackie: The Joe Ingalls Bombing Murder

Richard Kollmar

Blackie tries to catch two killers who used a bomb to kill a rival.

Original Air Date: April 28, 1948

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EP2801: Rocky Jordan: The Veiled People

Jack Moyles

Men in veils come hunting for Rocky’s newest employee in the cafe.

Original Air Date: December 11, 1949

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EP2800: Stand by for Crime: Death on the Tracks

Glenn Langan

Chuck investigates a case of a stranger being hit by a train in the middle of the desert.

Original Air Date: 1952

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EP2799: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot (Listener’s Choice Standard Division #19)


While recuperating, Holmes is asked to investigate a strange death in Cornish country where the locals suspect the Devil’s involvement

Original Air Date: January 13, 1946

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Review: Sealtest Variety Theater

Doing a live radio broadcast from a Houston hotel ballroom to a rowdy crowd on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1949 seemed like a good idea to someone. That infamous 1949 broadcast of the Sealtest Variety Theater became one of the biggest live radio fails in history and what the series is remembered for.

The Sealtest Variety Theater had a total of 42 broadcasts between its premier in September 1948 and it going off the air in July 1949. It was hosted by Dorothy Lamour who had co-starred in most of the Road movies with the legends Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. The show featured a dazzling array of stars including Jimmy Stewart, Edward G. Robinson, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Boris Karloff, and Sidney Greenstreet along with legends such as Hope, Abbott and Costello, Jim and Marianne Jordan as Fibber McGee and Molly, Norris Goff and Chester Lauck and Lum ‘n Abner, Harold Peary as the Great Gildersleeve, and Ed Gardner as Archie from Duffy’s Tavern.

Lamour’s charisma and star power was on full display. She remained likable throughout the series run and provided nice musical performances as well. She appeared to have been enjoying the series, laughing regularly and making the audience want to laugh along with her.

Additional musical entertainment was provided by Henry Russell and his orchestra and the Crew Chiefs. The music is all pleasant to listen to and on par with what you’d hear on most other radio programs.

Through the show’s first seven months on the air, the format included plenty of music, a dramatic sketch between Lamour and the guest of the week, and a comedy bit. Sometimes Lamour performed in the comedic sketches. Other times, a comedy team like Abbott and Costello would perform a typical routine or there’d be an occasional stand-up sketch.

The comedy was pretty solid for the Golden Age. The dramatic sketches were a mixed bag. Some were fairly good, but others seemed trite, silly, or simplistic. I mostly enjoyed them, but there were a few times I felt bad that a talented actor had to work with that material.

The infamous Saint Patrick’s day performance fell during this run. The wild crowd and technical difficulties led to sound quality issues and a profanity being spoken over the air by a male voice. To her credit, Lamour remained calm through it all. It was radio veteran Gardener who lost it and ignored her attempts to keep the show on script by trying to come up with something random that would make the crowd happy.

The event made headlines and Lamour didn’t run for it. In one sketch later on where she had to boast of what deeds made her character tough enough for something, she said, “Oh yeah, well I did a show at a hotel in Houston.”

In April, the show tweaked its format. The music stayed, but the dramatic sketches and individual comedy guest spots were done away with. Eddie Bracken joined the series and it became something of a sitcom like Lamour and Bracken playing fictionalized versions of themselves, with Bracken finding ways to get himself and Lamour into trouble every week.

Bracken was a fair comic talent. In many ways, his style called to mind Alan Young’s style as an exuberant born loser who often believed Hollywood actors were exactly like the people they played in the movies.

Young filled in for Bracken in an incident that illustrates the culture of the golden age of radio. Young happened to be at the studio to record his own program and did the guess spot on Sealtest on 15 minutes notice. You couldn’t even tell the script had been written for another actor.

Overall, this is a decent comedy/music program.It didn’t have mind-blowing comedy or music, but it’s a pleasant and fun listen with some great talent. It deserves remembered for more than technical difficulties and some rowdy drunks ruining its Saint Patrick’s Day program.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

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EP2798: Dragnet: The Big Cat

Jack Webb

Friday and Smith for a jaguar missing from a traveling carnival

Original Air Date: June 15, 1954

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EP2797: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Gold Rush Matter

Mandel Kramer

Johnny investigates a series of mysterious incidents at the site of a new gold rush in Virginia City.

Original Air Date: August 26, 1962

Check out the OTR Mystery, Suspense, and Horror Podcast at http://dakota186.podbean.com

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EP2796: Boston Blackie: The Junk Cars Insurance Scam Murder

Richard Kollmar

Blackie tries to solve the murder of a man who refused to go along with a car insurance racket.

Original Air Date: April 21, 1948

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EP2795: Rocky Jordan: High Pressure

Jack Moyles

Jordan is dragged out of bed at night and given thirty-six hours to leave Egypt, and no one will tell him why.

Original Air Date: November 27, 1949

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EP2794: Stand by for Crime: Subversive Activities

Glenn LanganChuck thinks he recognizes a candidate for Mayor of a near-by city as a foreign agent convicted of subversive activities.

Original Air Date: 1952

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EP2793: The Abbotts: The White Hot Flame (Host’s Choice/Wild Card)

A doctor dies in a plane crash over England, but Pat suspects foul play and pretends to be injured to investigate a hospital.

Original Air Date: March 13, 1955

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Video Theater 153: Dragnet: The Big Fraud

Friday and Smith search for men who extort visiting businessmen by pretending to be police officers.

Season 4, Episode 2

Original Air Date: September 2, 1954

EP2792: Dragnet: The Big Student

Jack Webb
Friday and Smith investigate a bank robbery.

Original Air Date: June 8, 1954

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Audio Drama Review: Unguarded Moment

Unguarded Moment is different than other Louie L’Amour audio dramas I’ve listened to because this one is not a Western but rather a noir story.

Arthur Fordyce is a man with a rising corporate career who goes to the track with a client. The client drops his wallet with a substantial amount of money. Arthur takes the cash instead of returning it. Unfortunately for him, he’s spotted by a small time crook who is determined to use his knowledge of Fordyce’s unguarded moment to make a big score.

This is your typical Noir tale of a regular person who gives into temptation and finds themselves in a downward spiral. In some ways, the plot calls to mind an episode of the radio series, The Whistler. While it was a polished modern production, the acting and mood captured the feel of another era.

The story is decently written and well-acted, but felt predictable throughout most of it. Until the last ten minutes, I could have called this story beat-for-beat, when the story took an unexpected turn and went somewhere else. While the twist was believable, it would have been nice if it had been foreshadowed a bit more.

Still, if you like old noir films or episodes of the Whistler, I think you’ll enjoy this audio noir story from one of America’s most beloved authors.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

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