Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio! A podcast featuring the best vintage detective radio programs. Each week from Monday through Saturday, we feature six of Old Time Radio's great detective series from the beginning of the show to its very last episode. And as a bonus, twice a month we also post a public domain movie or TV mystery or detective show video.
Along the way, I'll provide you my commentary and offer you opportunities to interact.
Subscribe to the show by clicking your favorite podcatcher in the sidebar.
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- Your host, Adam Graham
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Currently Featuring
YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR THE FALCON DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT DRAGNET MR. CHAMELEON THIN MAN… and more!
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Recent Posts
CBS, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, YTJD Add
EP1471: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Ideal Vacation Matter
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Johnny has to guard a famous columnist from an escaped hoodlum, but first has to find the vacationing journalist before his would-be killer.
Original Air Date: September 22, 1957
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Mutual, Nick Carter, Podcast
EP1470: Nick Carter: The Case of the Missing Thumb
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Nick Carter gets a new wannabe assistant whose father turns up murdered after robbing a safe.
Original Air Date: May 4, 1947
CBS, Philip Marlowe, Philip Marlowe OTR, Podcast
EP1469: Philip Marlowe: Mexican Boat Ride
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Marlowe goes South of the Border when a rich man hires him to find out why his wife took a boat ride despite being deathly afraid of boats.
Original Air Date: July 30, 1949
Crime and Peter Chambers, NBC, Podcast
EP1468: Crime and Peter Chambers: Murder at The Cafe Tropicale
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Pete investigates a murder at the night club.
Original Air Date: June 29, 1954
NBC, Podcast, The Saint
EP1467: The Saint: Dossier on a Damsel in Distress
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A woman jumps into Simon’s cab after witnessing the murder of a publisher she knew.
Original Air Date: August 13, 1950
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Dragnet, Podcast, Procedural
EP1466: Dragnet: The Garbage Chute Murders
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Friday investigates the murder of a professional organist who was killed by a man who entered the garbage chute.
Original Air Date: December 15, 1949
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Golden Age Article, Nero Wolfe
Top 10 Nero Wolfe Novellas, Part Three
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I continue my list of the top 10 Nero Wolfe Novellas. See Part One and Part Two.
3) Disguise for Murder (1950)
This one was adapted for A Nero Wolfe Mystery and it was also done for CBC’s Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe. So, it’s a stand out whenever anyone looks at adapting the Wolfe canon, and for good reason.
Wolfe has been talked into opening the brownstone and his orchid to a flower club. At the event, a woman takes Archie aside to confide him that she recognized a murderer at the party, but she’ll only confide it to Wolfe. It goes without saying that before Archie can get Wolfe back to the office, the woman is killed in Wolfe’s office.
This is not only unfortunate, but very inconvenient for Wolfe as Inspector Cramer peevishly orders the office sealed and Wolfe just as peevishly refuses to divulge a key observation to Cramer. Cramer uses Wolfe’s dining room to interrogate the witnesses and Wolfe orders Fritz to make sandwiches for everyone but the police. The novella is far more subtle than the Television version for A&E, as it quietly shows the tension between Wolfe and the official police rather than Wolfe shouting at the police.
The story than features one of the most memorable climaxes in the Wolfe canon with Archie facing more physical danger than ever and a truly surprising solution.
2) Counterfeit for Murder (1961)
A woman named Hattie Annis comes to Wolfe’s door looking quite disheveled and unlike the high value clients that Wolfe usually pays for and Archie’s not inclined to let her in. However, Archie’s willing to let her see the big guy because Wolfe is under the impression that he’s a sucker for a certain type of woman and Archie thinks it’ll be fun to show Wolfe up.
Hattie has a stack of money that she found in her boarding house which shelters showbiz people whether they can pay their $5 a week rent or not. When Wolfe sends Archie to the boarding house to investigate, they find an undercover female Treasury Agent dead.
The cop-hating Hattie Annis is without a doubt Wolfe’s most interesting client so far. Her speech and personality (she calls Wolfe “Falstaff”) make the story one of the most enjoyable to read in the canon.
The mystery isn’t half bad either. Throw in some T-men and the NYPD in a turf war and there are Few Wolfe stories of any length that can beat this one for pure entertainment value.
1) The Next Witness (1951)
“The Next Witness” finds Wolfe called as a witness to a peripheral matter in a murder trial. While being out and watching the trial, he becomes convinced that the prosecution’s case is wrong and leaves the courtroom with Archie, going on the run from the law while Wolfe tries to find the truth.
It’s fascinating to read of Wolfe out in the light, asking questions of people in their own place of business is an incredible change of pace. There’s also a classic scene with Wolfe in a diner eating Chili and waxing philosophical about it.
“The Next Witness” is truly a top notch story and it shows Wolfe at his wiliest and most resourceful as he’s forced to stay in a strange house, travel around in a car, and question witnesses in strange places. The payoff scene in the courtroom features one of Wolfe’s most brilliant stratagems.
You can find all the Nero Wolfe books in Kindle, Audiobook, and book form on our Nero Wolfe page.
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