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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

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

Currently Featuring

Amazing World of Radio

The War

OTR Superman Show

Detective Video Theater

Recent Posts

EP0596: Barrie Craig: The Schemers

Barrie is hired to find $200,000 that was stolen by a corporate treasurer.

Original Air Date: April 6, 1954

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The Sleuths of My Youth: Batman

Previous Installments:
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Tom Swift Sherlock Holmes, and Encyclopedia Brown.

Batman sticks out like a sore thumb in the world of costumed crimefighters. When people think of superheroes, they think of Superman, Batman, and Spider-man. Beyond those big three, other names come up such as Wonder Woman, Iron Man, the X-men,  the Incredible Hulk, the Green Lantern, and Captain America. The comic book superfans can come up with more, but for most people on the street, that’s about the limit.

What makes Batman remarkable in the group is the lack of superhuman powers.  Batman’s mix of physical training, agility, and cool gadgets will only get him so far. Batman must survive using his wits and his cunning. Most Superheroes have to do some detective work.  Batman has far more detective work involved in his case than most. After all, Batman’s the guy with his the top underground crime lab in the DC Universe and began doing his thing at Detective Comics.

To list Batman as a “sleuth” requires some qualification. There have been numerous spins on Batman. So,  there are many interpretations of Batman I’m not thinking of. The intentionally campy 1966 TV series is definitely not what I’m thinking of (though I like that on its own merits), nor the recent movie adaptations which center on Batman as  a complex action hero or some of the more recent cartoon adaptations which are basically Jackie Chan Adventures with a cape and cowl.

For me, when I think of Batman as a detective, I think of the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series. The series was beautifully animated in Art Decco with fantastically retro buildings and cars, giving the series a very moody Noirish feeling.  Voice acting was solid with Kevin Conroy providing the finest Batman voice ever and Mark Hamill, a veteran super villain actor, brought his talents to the role of the Joker in fifteen episodes.

In the series, most episodes have an element of mystery  Even, Heart of Ice, the origin episode for Mr. Freeze had Batman doing serious detective work to uncover the identity of Mr. Freeze.  Batman had plenty of episodes where he was trying to find out who did it, but sometimes finding out why was just as important for Batman. There was a reason that Ra’s al Ghul called Batman “detective.”

The noir mystery quality of Batman: The Animated Series was never better illustrated than when it came to the big screen with a brilliantly written and produced feature length story, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.  Mask of the Phantasm features Batman on the trail of a vigilante who is killing off gangster. The film is a fascinating with a very human portrayal of Batman,  superb villains and a huge twist ending. The 1993 film suffered from poor promotion efforts by Warner Brothers, so I’m revealing a well-kept secret here.

The series and the movie was in so many ways, a throwback to the Noir movies of the late 30s through the 1950s.  Batman was the two fisted defender of righteousness, the night in tarnished armor in the words of Raymond Chandler. It was slower-paced and cleverly written when compared to today’s cartons. On a commentary track on one of the DVD releases, one of the writers commented, “We wouldn’t be able to get away with this today.”

Batman stopped getting away with it after a few years. The original Animated Series went off the air in 1995, but Batman wasn’t gone for long. It relaunched in 1997 as , The New Batman Adventures  along with a new Superman series.  The new show had the same cast, but lacked the same magic. For one, it was a downgrade in animation. The focus shifted away from Batman to other characters and consequently, the well-told mysteries of The Animated Series disappeared from the Batman series with the exception of the fascinating “Judgment Day” story.  The shows sped up with more action and like any series featuring a popular comic book hero began to work in less successful and well-known characters (it’s all about the comic book cross-sell) for guest shots. The series left the air in 1999. Of course, Batman has remained in the public imagination with two television series, motion pictures, and direct to video movies. For my money though, no Batman venture since has ever approached the brilliance of Batman: The Animated Series in portraying Batman as a detective.

Twenty episodes of Batman: The Animated Series are available to watch for free online at the WB.

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Radio Review: Secret Agent K-7 Returns

Before there was James Bond, before the Man Called X, and before Steve Mitchell took on a single Dangerous Assignment,  there was Agent K-7.

Secret Agent K-7 began on the radio in 1932 and made the leap into movies with Special Agent K-7. The original K-7 radio series is lost, but in 1939, a new transcribed syndicated series launched called, Secret Agent K-7 Returns.

Secret Agent K-7 Returns  was a series of seventy-eight fifteen minute spy stories.  Secret Agent K-7 didn’t take part in most adventures. Rather, he introduced the stories of what other agents did. In early episodes, Secret Agent K-7 offered the stories as cautionary tales as what aggressor powers were doing to undermine peace. K-7’s role in the story was to explain how the preceding story had been a cautionary tale about what spies were doing to undermine world peace. He would also speak out against the dangers that spies posed to peace, and sought to discourage people from becoming involved in espionage with the same fervor as 1980s anti-drug campaigns.  In later episodes, K-7 took a more active role, handing out assignments to the three agents who starred in the program and occasionally showing up to help with the capture of a bad guy.  Perhaps, my biggest complaint with K-7 is that the voice acting was totally miscast. K-7 was supposed an international man of mystery and intrigue. Yet, the actor sounded more like a kindly high school principal.

Beyond K-7, the series featured three secret agents who rotated: B-9, Z, and M with their assistants Rita Drake, Yvonne Durrell, and Patricia Norwood.  While different actors played each role, in reality the three pairings were indistinguishable from each other, with each agent and each assistant be about the same. Of course, there was good reason for this: these were fifteen minute programs. There were quite a few fifteen minute self-contained mystery and adventure shows and they survived by cutting all the fluff and providing pure mystery and adventure.

The producers did a good job of creating a series of informative and exciting episodes in which K-7’s agents have to break up several plans to undermine world peace including sabotage, blackmail, assassination, border violations, and more.  The shows are well-paced and exciting. The lady assistants while staying in the background have several shining in the course of the series that require them to be involved in gun play, fighting, and thinking on their feet.

Beyond the  entertainment value of the show, it has immense historical interest as well. The show was created against the rise of Hitler and the start of World War II in Europe. The show, like many productions of the time tries to subtly warn America of the danger of Hitler by not naming Germany as the obvious state behind the no good actions, but also having the villain speaking with a German accent.  One particularly moving episode had agents dispatched to investigate whether a nation that was beaten in the last war wanted another one. The secret agents spoke to several people who were war weary and wanted peace, but were afraid to speak up.

Secret Agent K-7’s focus on peace also was reflect of America war-weariness. Americans had lost 100,000 troops in fighting the first World War and wanted little more than peace and trade. Unfortunately, a much longer, harder war was on its way, and wishes for peace wouldn’t stop it.

Secret Agent K-7 is also a helpful look at how intelligence groups subvert nations.  Many of the tactics featured on Secret Agent K-7 would appear time and again throughout the Cold War.

Secret Agent K-7 isn’t the greatest Old Time Radio spy series, but it’s good for some quick spy action when you’re on the go, as well as  a fascinating look inside the world of 1930s episonage.

More information on Secret Agent K-7 is available at the Digital Deli . The episodes themselves are available at the Internet Archive.

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EP0595: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Enoch Arden Matter

John Lund

An insurance company receives news that a man about to be declared dead under the Enoch Arden law was spotted and sends Johnny to investigate.

Original Air Date: April 7, 1953

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EP0594: Sherlock Holmes: The Case Of Shoscombe Old Place

Sherlock Holmes is called in at the behest of a horse trainer, suspicious that its owner may be losing his mind.

Original Air Date: February 15, 1948

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EP0593: Let George Do It: The House that Jack Built

Bob Bailey

George is hired by a man of mystery to protect his family, but George senses he’s up to no good.

Original Air Date: October 2, 1950

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EP0592: Candy Matson: Candy’s Last Case

Natalie Masters

Mallard is acting suspicious and Candy looks into it.  When a body turns up, Candy has to find out the truth about the murder and Mallard.

Original Air Date: April 29, 1951

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