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.
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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
Book Review, Golden Age Article, Philip Marlowe
Book Review: The Little Sister
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
The Little Sister shows some features of some of the best Marlowe stories, but the fifth book in this series just doesn’t stand up to its predecessors.
In The Little Sister it starts simply enough when a bored Marlowe is hired by the little sister of a man who moved to LA from Manhattan, Kansas and has stopped writing.
As is usual, Marlowe plunges into a case that gets him into the midst of a shady underworld, of Hollywood, and of course puts him on the bad side of police.
The story is worth reading once and has some classic Marlowe moments. Towards the end of the book, a couple of cops who’ve had to put up with Marlowe playing fast and loose with murders and bodies tell Marlowe off and it’s a beautiful moment when the characters come to life.
It is a rare moment in this story. In 250 pages, I lost track of how many bodies were dropped and who killed them all. So many characters come and go, we really get no impression of them. There’s no character in this book I really connected with in the same way I did with characters in, “Lady in the Lake,” and “The Big Sleep.”
Another thing that hurts the book is the focus. In the first four novels, Marlowe’s scorn is directed at big city crime, crooked Los Angeles (and nearby communities) police forces. Marlowe’s bile is justified because he knows of what he speaks. In the Little Sister, he uses a combination of a dirty mind and experience with two kids from Manhattan, Kansas as the basis for all sorts of psychological deductions about what a small town is like. It feels less like Marlowe’s making street wise observations on life and more like he’s expressing poorly informed prejudices.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a bad book, but it doesn’t measure up to Chandler’s other works.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0
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CBS, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, YTJD Add
EP1393: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Funny Money Matter
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Johnny investigates when an insured pays off his policy with thousands of dollars in counterfeit money.
Original Air Date: June 30, 1957
When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com
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Mutual, Nick Carter, Podcast
EP1392: Nick Carter: The Case of the Clumsy Forgeries
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Nick investigates the case of a wealthy heart patient who appears to have been murdered.
Original Air Date: June 11, 1946
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CBS, Philip Marlowe, Philip Marlowe OTR, Podcast
EP1391: Philip Marlowe: Heat Wave
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Marlowe is hired the identity of a burlesque dancer by a woman who think she’s her sister.
Original Air Date: April 16, 1949
Easy Money, Forgotten Detectives, NBC, Podcast
EP1390:Easy Money: The Gem Switch
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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A small jewelry store has a $5,000 ruby disappear and be replaced with a duplicate. Mike Trent thinks he knows how to get it back-with the aid of a third hand.
Original Air Date: December 19, 1954
NBC, Podcast, The Saint
EP1389: The Saint: The Color Blind Killer
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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The Saint tries to unravel a string of murders on a cruise ship.
Original Air Date: September 18, 1949
Golden Age Article, Hercule Poirot, Telefilm Review
Telefilm Review: Dead Man’s Folly
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 1 Comment
In the Series 13 film, Ariadne Oliver’s been hire to set up a “Murder Hunt” for a fête, which is a sort of bazaar or carnival. However, Oliver is suspicious by some changes requested to her scenario and calls Poirot in for help.
Trouble starts with the actual murder of the Girl Guide who was to play the victim in the murder hunt. This is followed by the disappearance of the lady of the house.
This is a solid mystery that lives up to the highest standards of the Poirot series. I also preferred this over the Peter Ustinov version from the 1980s, if for no other reason than I really had trouble buying Jean Stapleton as Mrs. Oliver in the Ustinov version while Zoe Wanamaker carries the role off with style.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0
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