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.
Currently Featuring
YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR THE FALCON DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT DRAGNET MR. CHAMELEON THIN MAN… and more!
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Recent Posts
1949-54 Johnny Dollar, CBS, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
EP0877: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Woodward Manilla Matter
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 1 Comment
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Johnny investigates a big theft in the Philippines that coincided with the disappearance of the clerk.
Original Air Date: June 29, 1954
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Mutual, Podcast, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Old Time Radio
EP0876: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Curious Crypt
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Sherlock Holmes investigates the disappearance of a wealthy man who spent a fortune on his crypt.
Original Air Date: May 30, 1949
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Let George Do It, Mutual, Podcast
EP0875: Let George Do It: Once a Crook
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George is hired by the sister of an ex-con who has disappeared after her uncle was robbed.
Original Air Date: September 22, 1952
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A Life in Your Hands, Gentlemen Detectives, NBC, Podcast
EP0874: A Life in Your Hands: Murder in the Eye Doctor’s Office
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A much hated man is killed in a dentist’s office.
Original Air Date: August 7, 1952
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Frank Race, Podcast, Syndicated
EP0873: Frank Race: The Adventure of the Lady in the Dark
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Frank Race is in Paris and an old doctor friend needs help. He tries to assist, but the friend is kidnapped and a boy needs surgery to save his life.
Original Air Date: October 6, 1949
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Golden Age Article
Radio’s Most Essential People Countdown: #16 and #15
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 2 Comments
Previous Posts: 18-17, 20-19, 22-21, 24-23, 26-25, 28-27, 30-29, 33-31, 36-34, 39-37, 42-40, 45-43, 48-46, 51-49, 54-52, 57-55, 60-58, 65-61, 70-66, 71-75, 76-80, 81-85, 86-90, 91-95, 96-100
16) Amos ‘n Andy:
This creation of radio pioneers Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll began on radio in 1928 as a daily serial and aired in one form or another over radio until 1960. While the show has been the subject of controversy in recent years due its stereotypical black characters, it was a cultural institution to an entire generation of Americans. During their early years, they eschewed the use of a studio audience, performing in a small studio by themselves. By doing, they avoided the pitfall of so many early radio performers who would find themselves playing to their studio audience rather than the people at home with some visual gag that the audience at home missed out on. By focusing on the listening audience, Amos ‘n Andy were able to become comedy legends.
15) Lawrence Dobkin
Lawrence was an amazingly versatile actor. His starring roles included playing Ellery Queen and taking on the role of Archie Goodwin on The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe. However, Dobkin was able to play a stunning of variety of character roles as a true man of a thousand voices. On the Saint, he played sidekick and cab driver Louie, but when star Tom Conway was struggling with alcoholism, he had to take over the role of the debonair Simon Templar while Conway was indisposed. His ability to change voices and take on any characterization made him a true asset to producers of programs such as The Whistler, Lux Radio Theatre, Let George Do It, and Escape.
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Golden Age Article
The Top Twenty-Five Best Dragnet Programs, Part Three
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 3 Comments
15) The Big Break
Original Air Date: November 14, 1950 (Radio)
Original Air Date: March 19, 1953 (Television)
For me, while this episode first aired on radio, the TV version was probably the best. When you see it, Friday and Smith are carrying Tommy Guns to go and get this suspect. You know right off that he’s dangerous and as the episode shows, he never will be taken “the easy way” like most Dragnet criminals. And he’s incredibly resourceful with a clever jailbreak, and then after another escape, he showed more nerve than probably any other Dragnet criminal. The show does include a scene of monotony as Friday and Smith wait in vain for the guy to come back to his room to provide some realism and balance to the program’s action high points.
Original Air Date: February 9, 1967 (Television)
Friday and Gannon are working out of Internal Affairs and they bring in a rookie undercover cop (a young Kent McCord) who has been accused of armed robbery. The young cop is outraged at his treatment and gets to a point where regardless of the investigation’s outcome, he’s ready to leave the force. It’s at this point that Joe Friday delivers perhaps his best speech ever-“To Be a Cop.” It details the hardships a policeman faces in a way that’s as moving today as when Webb delivered it in 1967. It’s at times rhythmic in its cadences, “And the heartbreak– underfed kids, beaten kids, molested kids, lost kids, crying kids, homeless kids, hit-and-run kids, broken-arm kids, broken-leg kids, broken-head kids, sick kids, dying kids, dead kids.” The speech was a tribute to the sacrifices police officers made every day, and one of the most powerful of Webb’s speech and a reminder for the young officer of what the job was all about.
Original Air Date: January 19, 1967 (Television)
This episode is a great thriller. It’s scary enough when on a typical day working in burglary divisions, Friday and Gannon learn that high velocity gelatin dynamite has been stolen. However, it becomes even more scary when they find the perpetrator is a man whose house is dedicated with Nazi paraphernalia and a large amount of dynamite is gone. The stakes don’t get much higher and the episode ends memorably.
12) The Big Knife
Original Air Date: May 11, 1950 (Radio)
21 girls have been injured in knifing at a local high school. It’s obviously the work of a very disturbed person and that makes for a very chilling episode. The mood in the episode is perfect, and the scene where they finally discover who the criminal is also brilliantly executed.
11) The Big Thief
Original Air Date: December 17, 1953 (Television)
This episodes back to a time when doctors made housecalls for patients even ones they didn’t know. It also shows one reason why that practice has gone the way of the dodo. A young couple pretending that they’re pregnant lure doctors there in order to beat them and rob them of the drugs in their doctor’s bags. In this episode, Friday and shoots and kills a young armed suspect in self defense, setting up a scene of uncharacteristic vulnerability as he struggles with what he had to do. His then-girlfriend does her best to offer comfort. In later years, Friday would become more of an iconic figure representing police everywhere. This story on a far more human note that makes you wonder how the show might have been different had Webb gone this direction with 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.
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