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Bob Bailey & Virginia Gregg in front of an old Microphone

Bob Bailey & Virginia Gregg

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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Recent Posts

EP1316: Police Headquarters: William Spencer Killed and Race Track

A well-liked roguish gambler is found dead of an apparent suicide in William Spencer Killed. 

A friend of a couple of police officers needs their protection from gangsters trying to fix a race in Race Track.

Episodes 34 and 35

Original Air Date: 1932

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Graphic Novel Review: Johnny Dollar


Yours Truly Johnny Dollar was a radio series than ran from 1949-62 with a total of six actors playing the role of the man with the action packed expense account. This short graphic novel succeeds in bringing Johnny Dollar to a visual medium. The story is set in 1957 (based on a gravestone seen in the story.) Artist Eric Thierault doesn’t, however, draw Dollar as Bob Bailey (the best beloved of the Dollar actors who played the role from 1955-60) but rather in a way that  most would imagine Johnny Dollar looking based on the series.

The story itself features Johnny investigating a troubled production of Macbeth that his company has insured. The only somewhat odd thing about the story is Johnny pretending to be a potential investor rather than an investigator, which was not a usual tactic for Johnny Dollar in that era, though certainly it wasn’t unprecedented for Johnny Dollar to go undercover.

What makes the “Brief Candle Matter” work for me is that it plays out like a radio episode. The dialogue, plot, and solution to the crime could very well have been told on the radio show. The black and white artwork gives it a 1950s feel. The story made me think of what a Johnny Dollar television show would have been like.

Compared to radio programs of this era, this stands up as an above average story. It doesn’t hit the dramatic high notes of the best Dollar stories like “the Rasmussen Matter” or many of the great five parters, “the Brief Candle Matter” is definitely an accessible and engaging read for people who may never have even listened to the radio show. While its out of print, this is definitely worthy buying used when it’s available on Amazon or checking ebay and online comic shops for.

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Templeton Matter (EP1315)

Bob Bailey

Johnny investigates the theft of thousands of dollars in merchandise that includes the murder of one of the guards.

Original Air Date: February 10, 1957

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

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EP1314: Nick Carter: The Hanging Paperhanger

Lon Clark
Nick is hired by a cleaning woman who becomes suspicious when her landlord repapers her wall without her permission. The landlord is then found dead.

Original Air Date: August 5, 1945

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EP1313: Philip Marlowe: The Old Acquaintance

Gerald Mohr
Marlowe is hired on New Year’s Eve to a locate a missing fiancée who disappeared at the same day a dangerous convict broke out of prison.

Original Air Date: December 26, 1948

 

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EP1312: Pat Novak for Hire: Wendy Morris

Jack Webb
Pat Novak is hired by an attorney to keep an eye on a woman whose husband has returned from the Navy. The Attorney alleges the husband is an imposter.

Original Air Date: May 8, 1949

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EP1311: Pursuit: Pursuit at the Vicarage

Ben Wright

Inspector Black is called in to investigate threats against a beloved local vicar.

Original Air Date: August 21, 1951

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Give us a call 208-991-4783

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