Home

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

Listen to "The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio" on Spreaker.

Amazing World of Radio

The War

OTR Superman Show

Detective Video Theater

Recent Posts

Radio’s Most Essential People Countdown: #12 and #11

Previous Posts: 14-1316-1518-1720-19,22-2124-2326-2528-2730-2933-3136-3439-37,

42-4045-4348-4651-4954-5257-5560-5865-6170-66,  71-7576-8081-8586-9091-9596-100

12) Al Jolson

Al JolsonJolson was one of America’s premier entertainers beginning with his days in Vaudeville and his starring role in the first feature length talkie, The Jazz Singer.  Jolson also brought his unique musical style to radio in 1932 for Chevrolet. He’d continued to be a ratings draw for many years with programs such as Shell Chateau and the Kraft Music Hall. Jolson’s popularity in the early 1940s but picked up after the war with the release of The Jolson Story and then Jolson Sings Again. This made Jolson in demand both as  a star and as a guest performer. Throughout his career, he remained one of his era’s greatest entertainers, and also one of its most beloved radio stars.

11) Jack Webb

Jack WebbJack Webb came to radio at the right time in 1946. He began in San Francisco on the historic KGO-AM.  The station was trying to compete for national radio attention in a national radio market dominated by Hollywood and New York. He tried out several formats including a Comedy/Variety show and a news commentary program before with writer Richard Breen, he created the role of Pat Novak for Hire. The sardonic sometimes detective Novak spoke in a way that was unique to that time or any other.

His association with KGO ended as he went to Hollywood to find his fortune and the Novak series struggled on without him. He starred in a copycat series of Novak called Johnny Madero that went nowhere for Mutual, and then in 1948 landed the lead role in another detective series in CBS’ Jeff Regan.  In Hollywood, he played a lot of tough guys and hoods. On the CBS Series Escape he  appeared in a variety of episodes that have become classics such as his legendary work on “A Shipment of Mute Fate” and “Operation Fer de Lys.”

In 1949, he returned to his signature role as Pat Novak in a national series that added to his acclaim. However, the series was set to go on Summer hiatus and Webb needed money. Of this necessity was born Webb’s greatest creation, Dragnet. 

Influenced by a conversation he’d had with an LAPD officer and movie consultant who didn’t particularly care for radio private eye shows and their portrayals of incompetent or brutal cops, Webb had been challenged to make a show that showed how policeman really worked.

So in June 1949, NBC premiered Dragnet which would last for more than six years over the radio. Webb as producer/director brought listeners the highest quality of sound effects and took them right to the scene of the crime on the side of the law. Unlike most crime shows, Dragnet didn’t focus exclusively on homicides but covered nearly every area a detective might work in including missing persons, bunco, and robbery.

Dragnet’s portrayal of the police as ordinary middle class heroes offered a fresh contrast from prior portrayals which portrayed police alternately as super cops or as bumbling fools.  Dragnet changed the shape of the crime drama and it would have many imitators such as 21st Precinct, Tales of the Texas Ranger, and The Line Up.

Had it not been for television, Webb’s entire career may have been defined over radio as the vanguard of a new generation of radio producers. His radio work waned and ended in 1955 as he focused on Dragnet over television and several film projects. Still, in his years on the radio, Webb raised the bar for excellence for everyone who would come after.

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

EP0884: The Line Up: The Holstedter Case

William Johnstone
Guthrie and Grebb search for a gang who committed a $100,000 bank robbery and shot a guard.

Original Air Date: December 21, 1950

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

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

The Top Twenty-Five Dragnet Programs, Part Five

Continued from: 10-6, 15-11, 20-16, 25-21.

5) The Big Meet
Original Air Date: October 26, 1950

This was perhaps the best of the classic Joe Friday undercover narcotics buy stories just because the risks were so outrageous. Going up to buy money from drug dealers and hoping to bluff your way through with a wad of cash mixed with newspapers and worth about 5% of what you’re paying  is a tense enough situation particularly when much of the “cash” is newspaper. However, when it appears that the drug dealers have managed to lose your fellow officers tail, you’re looking a suspenseful classic.

4) The LSD Story

Original Air Date: January 12, 1967

This episode is perhaps the most definitive episode of the 1960s Dragnet as it’s known by people who weren’t even into Dragnet. The show does a great job portraying how those who are charged with enforcing the law are often frustrated by the law when it failed to deal with an issue like LSD use. The episode  is often known as the Blue Boy episode for the central suspect Benji Carver who first appears under influence of the drug with his face painted blue. The downbeat ending was beautifully done by Webb both from a directing and acting standpoint.

For some, this represented a hard hit back against the emerging counterculture. When Dragnet had left the air in 1959, it’d been a tired franchise worn out by nearly 600 radio and TV performance over the course of the decade. This episode began a new life with this episode as Friday re-emerged as the rock solid hero we needed in a time when everything was shifting including cherished values.

For many advocates of legalized drugs, this episode began a lifelong hate affair with Webb and Dragnet that continues to this day.

3) The City Hall Bombing/ The Human Bomb
Original Air Date: July 21, 1949 (Radio)
Original Air Date: December 16, 1951 (Television)

This story is quintessential Dragnet. A man holding a bomb is threatening to blow up city hall if the police don’t release his brother from county lock up and time is running out. Friday and Romero opt to try and stop the scheme at the risk of their own lives. The episode manages to mix the best elements of Dragnet: humanity, professionalism, and realistic danger and excitement. The end scene is a classic and sets the tone for the series. Too often, fictional cops were portrayed as almost superhuman or buffoons.The Human Bomb gives us a portrait of brave but cautious men who can make mistakes like everyone else. The story was great over radio and it was the perfect selection to lead off Dragnet over television in 1951.

2) Dragnet 1966

Original Air Date: January 27, 1969

From pure quality of the production, this may be the greatest Dragnet production ever.  Friday returns from vacation early to investigate the disappearance of three missing women. This was a made for TV movie and it took full advantage of its length to create a fully fleshed out thriller with amazing twists and turns, and one of Joe Friday’s finest action moments ever.

The film provides the context through which Joe Friday is commonly understood  It includes the dynamic, “Quirk in the Law” speech and Dragnet’s earliest attempts at taking on race relations. The suspect in that speech identifies Friday as an iconic figure when he calls him “the immortal sergeant..”

In addition to these dramatic features, Dragnet 1966 includes some great comic relief, most notably Virginia Gregg has the head of a matrimonial bureau. In addition, the impending retirement of Bill Gannon is a source of great comedy.

Sadly, this film is less well-known than it should be as it was not replayed often, wasn’t re syndicated with the 1960s Dragnet TV shows, and is only legally available as an extra on the Dragnet 1968/Season 2 DVD, so many Dragnet fans haven’t seen it. This is a pity as it is was a true classic.

1) The Big Departure

Original Air Date: March 7, 1968

Dragnet is often accused of being a forum where Jack Webb pushed his political views. However, Dragnet’s ideas were not seen as all that political at the time. What we know of Webb’s personal politics is really quite limited. What we can say safely of Webb’s political beliefs was that he was anti-Communist, supportive of the Civil Rights movement, and pro-law enforcement. However, this episode provides a good view of Webb on America.

The episode tells of Friday and Gannon encountering a young gang of thieves who look down on society and plan to flee to island to start a just, peaceful, and moral nation. To this end, they begin robbing stores to acquire needed supplies and injuring anyone who stood in their way. (Irony alert.)

“The Big Departure” really was born of its times. The 1960s radicals, many of whom in one form or another urged young people to tune out. There were all types of opportunities to destructively turn away from a society with its troubles. There was the drug culture, hippy communes, and terrorist organizations like the Weather Underground, all of which urged people to tune out of traditional American processes and in many cases, to violate the laws of the land.

In “The Big Departure,” Friday and Gannon don’t bother arguing that America is perfect, rather they argue that its worthwhile and that the boys need to engage in life, not run away from it.

Webb understood what it was to be angry about injustice. When he was 26, he made a radio series, “One Out of Seven” that dealt with racial prejudice and intolerance. By 1968, the situation had begun to improve. But, this only happened because people worked to make things better, not escaping to a fantasy land.

At the core of Dragnet was a belief in the rule of law. The police officers were the good guys because they enforced the laws and made America work, giving democracy a chance to work. As Friday said, “Don’t try to build a new country. Make this one work. It has for over four hundred years; and by the world’s standards, that’s hardly more than yesterday.” That is the heart of the series.

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

EP0883: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Jan Brueghel Matter

John Lund
Johnny goes to pay $25,000 to obtain the return of a stolen painting the company made more than $100,00 for. But did he get the real painting or a forgery.

Original Air Date: July 6, 1954

Save more and combine hotel and airline fare at http://www.johnnydollarair.com

Become one of our friends on Facebook…http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

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

EP0882: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Red Death

A pyromaniac has been unleashed on London and Holmes has to find him.

Original Air Date: June 6, 1949

Take our listener survey: http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

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

EP0881: Let George Do It: Chance and Probability

Bob Bailey
George travels to a casino resort where a man was killed for his perfect “system” for winning at the casino.

Original Air Date: September 29, 1952

 

Take our listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

Call 208-991-4783 to leave a voicemail.

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.

EP0880: A Life in Your Hand: Captain Mendosa’s Treasure

Carlton Kadell

A man claiming to have a treasure map is murdered and a socialite is charged with the crime

Rehearsal of program that aired: August 14, 1952

Become one of our friends on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/radiodetectives

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 read.