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, Dr. Tim Detective, Forgotten Detectives, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
EP1099: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silver Blue Matter, Part Five and Dr. Tim Detective: The Man from Hiroshima
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Johnny knows who’s behind the theft and it’ll break a woman’s heart.
Original Air Date: May 11, 1956
What’s spoiling Dr. Tim’s X-ray films?
Original Air Date: 1948
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Mutual, Nick Carter, Podcast
EP1098: Nick Carter: The Missing Harold Ascort
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Nick investigates a kidnapping where the kidnappers have a personal score to settle with Nick.
Original Air Date: February 12, 1944
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CBS, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
EP1097: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silver Blue Matter, Parts Three and Four
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Johnny’s investigations uncovers more information on a young man in a slum with more heartbreak for his sister.
Original Air Dates: May 9 and 10, 1956
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Mr. Malone, NBC, Podcast
EP1096: Amazing Mr. Malone: Handsome is As Handsome Does
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A woman comes to Malone to help and she needs it when she’s charged with the murder of her husband’s mistress.
Original Air Date: June 29, 1951
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CBS, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
EP1095: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silver Blue Matter, Parts One and Two
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Johnny investigates the theft of silver blue mink furs near a slum neighborhood where cooperation is hard to come by.
Original Air Dates: May 7 and 8, 1956
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CBS, Podcast, Procedural, The Line Up
EP1094: The Line Up: The Drinkler Kidnapping Case
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A businessman is kidnapped and held for ransom and the police must step in when his fight has a breakdown.
Original Air Date: July 22, 1952
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Book Review, Golden Age Article, Nero Wolfe
Book Review: The Golden Spiders
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The Golden Spiders finds Wolfe and Archie in ill-temper. Archie decides to admit a neighborhood boy who comes to Wolfe because of Wolfe’s antipathy to police and the fact that he saw a woman in a car apparently in trouble. Wolfe handles the boy well and agrees to help by tracing the plate of the car.
However, the boy is murdered the next day and the case goes to another level. The boy’s mother asks Wolfe to find out why he was killed and offers her son’s savings which amounts to $4.30 to find the killer. They begin the process by placing an ad, and get a response that’s followed by another murder.
This sets Archie and the teers on an investigation that leads them to the high and low end of society and on to the trail of an extortion ring that’s the key to the whole plot.
This is really a mixed bag in terms of quality. It has more action than any other Wolfe story, including a torture scene that’s somewhat uncomfortable. To be fair about that, the bad guys started it by torturing Orrie Cather before Archie and friends turned the tables on them.
There’s also a very strong scene with Inspector Cramer that’s probably his best scene as a detective in any of the books he’s featured in. There are some good bits between Wolfe and Archie, and a pretty good final denouement.
The book’s weak point comes with Wolfe proposing a ruse for Archie that’s so transparent, it doesn’t fool anyone. It’s really pathetic and beneath the standard of fun ruses that characterize the Wolfe books.
The Golden Spiders was the basis of the pilot movie for A Nero Wolfe Mystery, and I have to say this is one case where the movie beat the book. And the biggest difference was emotional impact. The book deals with the death of a child, but it doesn’t seem to impact the characters correctly. Stout could do this and often did with tragic adult deaths which Archie or Wolfe inadvertently played a role in books like in Prisoner’s Base, but just doesn’t seem to deliver here. It’s worth noting that Pete Drossos is the only child to play a major role in any of the Wolfe stories, so writing children may not have been Stout’s forte.
There’s enough good stuff to keep this interesting, but overall I can only give the book a:
Rating: Satisfactory
You can find all the Nero Wolfe books in Kindle, Audiobook, and book form on our Nero Wolfe page.
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