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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.

Subscribe to the show by clicking your favorite podcatcher in the sidebar.

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

- Your host, Adam Graham

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Recent Posts

EP1078: Amazing Mr. Malone: Seek and Ye Shall Find

George Petrie
Malone takes a divorce case and the husband believes he was having an affair with his wife, and Malone finds himself the prime suspect in the husband’s murders.

Original Air Date: June 8, 1951

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EP1077: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Shepherd Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny investigates the case of a doctor requesting an unusual increase in his insurance policy.

Original Air Dates: April 16 and 17, 1956

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EP1076: The Line Up: The Guided Gang Case

William Johnstone

Guthrie and Karger search for a young man behind a series of robberies as well as the organization that set him on the road to crime.

Original Air Date: July 1, 1952

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Radio Drama Review: Fort Laramie

Fort Laramie  came to radio in 1956 in the midst of both the decline of radio and the rise of the adult Western on both radio and television that began with Gunsmoke and featured such programs as The Six Shooter and Have Gun Will Travel.

The program centers around Lee Quince (Raymond Burr in the series, John Dehner in the pilot) a Captain of Cavalry assigned to B Company at Fort Laramie under the command of Major Daggett (Jack Moyles). Their job is simple: keep the peace by enforcing the treaty and avoiding a war with local Indian tribes.

The series sets a high standard for realism on every level.  It takes a look at life on an old West fort from so many different perspectives. What happens when the company payroll is delayed? How are outbreaks treated? What type of people joined the Cavalry during this time? What would life be like for a widow of a soldier or for a young wife married to an officer and unused to the rigors of the West? The series uses thorough research, mixed a solid imagination, and good human drama to create memorable scripts.

The ugly reality of war is portrayed. The series is brutally honest about the terror of falling into the hands of Indians. In one episode, a woman talks about using a gun to defend herself but saving the last bullet for herself to avoid being captured by cruel Indian tribes. At the same time, the series also shows the prejudice, neglect, and in one case, outright insane slaughter that was heaped on Native Americans. The series keeps in balance.

The cast of the show is great. This series is Raymond Burr’s only starring role over radio. Usually he played heavies, but he shines as the experienced, sly, and Indian-wise hero. He’s ably supported by Moyles, the former star of Rocky Jordan Vic Perrin as the veteran enlisted man Sergeant Gorce, and Harry Bartel as the green Lieutenant Siberts.

With such a talented cast, Director Norm Macdonnell was able to do some interesting things. For the first half of the series, Quince was constantly cutting down the inexperienced naivete  of Siberts until Daggett called Quince out and said he was going to ruin Siberts, which forced Quince to address his own bad attitude and get Siberts to feel free to relax. This was really not the type of topic you’d see discussed with two ongoing characters a series in the 1950s.

However, the show dealt with a lot of very human issues, not all of them dark and serious. There were the humorous episodes that brought lighter touch. What made them work well was that these humorous shows were not thrown in randomly. They’d often come before  a very dark and serious episode,  as if to deepen the emotional impact of the next week’s show.

Like many shows from the mid-1950s, the programs that survive are in wonderful condition, making for great listening.

The full run was done by Andrew Rhynes as a podcast over at the Old Radio Westerns and is definitely worth a listen.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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EP1075: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Laird Douglas-Douglas of Heatherscote Matter, Part Five and Dr. Tim Detective: The Dog Who Did and Didn’t

Bob Bailey
With three people dead,  Johnny has to find a murderer even if it means bringing down an empire.

Original Air Date: April 13, 1956

Dr. Tim investigates an out of season case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

When flying remember to travel with http://www.johnnydollarair.com

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EP1074: Nick Carter: Nine Hours to Live

Lon Clark

Nick Carter investigates whether a man on death row is truly guilty and he only has nine hours until the man is executed.

Original Air Date: January 15, 1944

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EP1073: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Laird Douglas-Douglas of Heatherscote Matter, Part Three and FOur

Bob Bailey

Johnny sets out to guard the beloved show dog and avoid getting killed in the process and another death is added to the mounting body count.

Original Air Dates:  April 11 and 12, 1956

Remember when traveling to visit http://www.johnnydollarair.com

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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 to this podcast on Zune, click here to subscribe to this feed using any other feed reader.