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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

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The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Comes to the Kindle

Every week, I post an article here at GreatDetectives.net and now you can have these articles automatically streamed to your Kindle by subscribing to it.

These articles can discuss detective stories (classic or modern) or classic television or movies in general. Sometimes, these are book and DVD reviews like this recent reviews of, “Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu” or “Johnny Staccato.”  Other times, I’ll do a series on a popular mystery series like our recent “Columbo”  and “Rathbone-Bruce” series we’ve done. Of course, sometimes we venture out of the detective genre entirely such as with my look at Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.

With a Kindle subscription, the articles will automatically download themselves to your Kindle and be available for you to read right there on your Kindle. This is a nice convenience to everyone who has a Kindle and would love to be able to read about mysteries and classic entertainment while on the go. You can take the service out for a free test drive for 2 weeks with no obligation.

Of the course, the articles are still free to read off the website as that may work best for most people. Also,  if you don’t have a Kindle, and you’ve enjoyed the articles, you can hit the “like” button on our Amazon page which makes it easier for people to find our blog, and even write a review to give prospective subscribers an idea of what to expect.

EP0376: The Adventure of the Abbotts: The Blood Red City

Claudia Morgan

Pat and Jean witness a murder in a small town done by the town’s boss, but everyone claims to have seen nothing, and sinister forces try to ensure that Pat and Jean never leave town alive.

Original Air Date: May 1, 1955

1957 AFRTS Transcription 

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The Rathbone-Bruce Countdown, Part Four

After four weeks, we get to the cream of this crop of this fantastic series. (For previous films, (see Part One and Part Two, and Part Three):

3) Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943):

The third of a mini-series within the films focusing on World War II sees Holmes and Watson off for Washington, seeking to recover microfilm vital to the war effort. The film is more spy thriller than traditional detective story, but Rathbone makes it work.

The film features another solid performance from Rathbone. In  this one, Holmes is matched up against sophisticated and ruthless Nazi spies who will do anything to capture the microfilm. This is one of the best types of Holmes films, with the villains and Holmes racing against time towards a solution.

The tension is really heightened by some nice camera work surrounding the object of the quest, which is a matchbook containing the missing microfilm.  The producers rarely let the matchbook out of their sight. We see it passed from hand to hand, even follow it on a tray at a party. It was a very clever and fun device.

2) Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Terror (1942)

The Voice of Terror brought Holmes and Watson off the radio and back on to motion picture screens and relaunched the series at Universal, and set the series back into the modern times of World War II Great Britain, placing our heroes in the mix of one of the greatest fights in history. This movie has a ripped from the headlines feel as Holmes seeks out a man whose diabolical broadcast were designed to destroy the morale of the beleaguered British public by disclosing classified war information over the radio.

The cinematography was inexpensive, but well-done. If you get the restored version from UCLA, the barroom scene where Holmes seeks help in weeding out the Voice of Terror is extremely well-shot. The solution to the case is clearly unexpected and the film packs an emotional wallop.  The spirit of World War II stood out. The Voice of Terror is a film about sacrifice, courage, and the indomitable spirit that refused to blink in the face of Nazi Germany.

Of course, there are many people who question the decision to have movies where Sherlock Holmes fights World War II. However, we must remember that at the time the movie was released, survival of Great Britain was an open queston, and the movie has the sense of that. What this means is that the stakes of the film are high and the film had a sense of this larger story going on in the real world.  It would be odd for Holmes not to be involved in these sort of cases.

World War II brought many changes to the lives of fictional detectives. In one way or another, not only Sherlock Holmes, but other detectives such as Nero Wolfe and Charlie Chan lent their skills to the war effort. World War II when people from all walks of life were having their lives shaken up. Holmes was no different than that regard.

And what would Arthur Conan Doyle think of his hero becoming a Nazi buster? The last line of the film provides a clue. Holmes tells Watson, “But there’s an East wind coming all the same. Such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it’s God’s own wind none the less. And a greener, better, stronger land will be in the sunshine when the wind is clearer.” The quote was said in the Doyle story, “His Last Bow.” In that story, Holmes had involved himself in World War I counterespionage, leaving little doubt that Doyle would have approved of the War movies had he been alive at the time.  

1) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is not just the very best of the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, but the best Holmes film I’ve yet seen. The movie begins with Professor Moriarty (played superbly by George Zucco)  being acquitted of a crime and Holmes pledging to bring him to the gallows. Moriarty responds by planning an ostentatious crime and plans to keep Holmes distracted by giving him a puzzle so fascinating that it’ll keep Holmes occupied while Moriarty pulls off the crime of the century.

 While Hound of the Baskervilles introduced us to Rathbone as Holmes, he really begins to own the role in this performance. The dynamic between Holmes and Moriarty has never been better. The crimes are clever and well-executed. The film represents the ulitmate in the Holmes-Moriarty battle of wits and the battle is not limited to wits only. The confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty at the end of the movie is well-shot and well-scored, making for an exciting and well-paced end to the adventure.

The movie also has the some nice little touches including a very fun musical interlude. In addition unlike later Holmes films which were shot on a limited budget due to wartime restrictions, this film is a beautifully shot period piece.

Thus, while many great and good Holmes would follow, if I had to pick only one of the Basil Rathbone movies to take on a desert island, this would be the one.

EP0375: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Mickey McQueen Matter

Edmond O'Brien

An old friend of Johnny’s comes to him for help only to change his mind, and then turn up dead the next day.

Original Air Date: April 14, 1951

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EP0374: Sherlock Holmes: The Singular Affair of the Babbling Butler

Tom Conway

The butler of a playwright who has satirized Holmes comes to Holmes for helping fearing his master is about to kill him.

Original Air Date: January 27, 1947

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EP0373: Let George Do It: Every Shot Counts

Bob Bailey

A singing cowboy hires George to investigate someone who is threatening a female sharpshooter. The sharpshooter tries to get George off the case, but a shot fired from across the street. A murdered blackmailer sets the stage for a mystery where everyone seems to be a sharpshooter.

Original Air Date: October 31, 1949

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EP0372: Nero Wolfe: The Case of the Hasty Will

Sidney Greenstreet

A man hires Archie to witness a new will and then disappears.

Original Air Date: March 2, 1951

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