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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Currently Featuring
YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR THE FALCON DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT DRAGNET MR. CHAMELEON SQUAD ROOM… and more!
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Recent Posts
CBS, Keen and Company, Mr. Chameleon, OTR Detective, Podcast
Mr. Chameleon: The Case of the Conceited Murderer (EP4380)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Today’s Mystery:
A famous photographer is murdered.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 29, 1949
Originated from New York City
Starring: Karl Swenson as Mister Chameleon
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Dangerous Assignment, NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast
Dangerous Assignment: Strategic Base Sabotaged (EP4379)
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Today’s Mystery:
Steve goes to New Guinea in search of a dock worker who is suspected of sabotaging the construction of a joint U.S.-Australia-New Zealand strategic base.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: April 29, 1953
Originating in Hollywood
Starring: Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell; Herb Butterfield as the Commissioner; Ben Wright; Betty Lou Gerson; Martha Wentworth; Paul Frees
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Patreon Supporter of the Day: Joshua, Patreon Supporter Since Fberuary 2016
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Forgotten Detectives, Mutual, OTR Detective, Podcast, Procedural, Sqaud Room
Squad Room: Mother of Two Murdered (EP4378)
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Today’s Mystery:
Scanlon and Webster are called in to investigate when a woman is found dead in a dirty manufacturing loft.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: 1953 or 1954
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Originating in New York
Patreon Supporter of the Day: Peter, Patreon Supporter since March 2023
Starring: Bill Zuckert as RJ Scanlon; Chuck Webster as James Brady
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Video Theater
U.S. Marshal: Helldorado (Video Theater 270)
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In the heat of Cochise County’s Helldorado week, a celebration turns sour as Sheriff Morgan confronts the chaos of an open town. With high-stakes poker games and the threat of murder hanging over the festivities, Morgan must protect the integrity of his badge and the safety of his guests. This episode, “Helldorado,” takes us on a wild ride through loyalty, deceit, and the gambles we take with the cards we’re dealt.
Season 1, Episode 15
Original Air Date: December 7, 1956
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NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, The Falcon
The Falcon: The Case of the Baby Brother (EP4377)
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Today’s Mystery:
The elder brother of a man who committed suicide wants Waring to find the woman he believes drove his brother down a dark path so that he can get rid of her.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 17, 1950
Originating from New York
Starring: Les Damon as the Falcon; Ken Paxton as Sergeant Corbett; Mandel Kramer, Maurice Tarplin
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Patreon Supporter of the Day: Margie, Patreon Supporter since September 2016
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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Golden Age Article, Telefilm Review
Telefilm Review: The Chevy Mystery Show: Enough Rope
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
Peter Falk first played Columbo in 1968. However, the character first came to television in 1960, played by Bert Freed in a one-off episode of The Chevy Mystery Show a 1960 Summer Anthology show. This original television performance made its way onto the Internet. (More on how that happened later on.) So I took a look at the OG Columbo story.
“Enough Rope”, the episode featuring Freed as Columbo, would later be expanded by writers and Columbo co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link, first into a stage play and then as the mystery movie that would introduce Falk as Columbo – Prescription: Murder. The basic plot of both “Enough Rope” and Prescription: Murder is the same. Dr. Roy Fleming (played by Richard Carlson in “Enough Rope”), a New York psychiatrist, murders his wife and, with the help of his mistress, gives himself a perfect alibi. He arrives to find the bumbling police Lieutenant Columbo (Freed) investigating the case, and it becomes apparent as the episode goes on that Columbo knows Fleming did it.
The biggest surprise about this episode is that it’s in color, which was rare for television in the 1960s. Although given the relatively small number of color sets in the US at the time, it’s safe to say most people who saw it watched it in black and white. The color is great and a real treat for this episode. The episode was not aired live, but it was recorded live, so that if a line was flubbed or a minor mistake was made, the cast just moved on. This gives the production a bit of a stage play feel.
There’s a temptation to compare Freed’s performance to Falk’s iconic take on the character, which isn’t fair. Not only wouldn’t Falk take on the role until 1968, the fairly unrumpled NYPD detective Falk portrayed in the first Columbo film, Prescription: Murder, bore little resemblance to how we think of the character today. That character wouldn’t be really formed until 1971. So given that Freed’s performance came before Falk’s, and before Thomas Mitchell’s stage performance, it deserved to be evaluated on its own merits.
Freed was a skilled character actor and does a great job creating a detective character for which there wasn’t much precedent. On first impression, Freed seemed a lovable chubby oaf of a detective, only to show more and more flashes of his true cunning. You can also see some of the genesis of the ideas that would define the Columbo character.
I like Carlson as Fleming more than Gene Barry in the same role in Prescription: Murder. He’s a little more believable as a psychiatrist. He runs the gamut of emotions nicely as the walls close in and he finds himself in a battle of wits with Columbo.
While Freed and Carlson are terrific, the rest of the cast is just okay. The series was hosted by Walter Sleazak in those early days when TV anthologies had hosts. Some, like Ronald Reagan on the General Electric Theater, added charm and warmth. Others, like Rod Serling or Alfred Hitchcock added a bit more atmosphere to the strange tales they told. Sleazak adds nothing. He’s just a guy having a smoke while recapping the episode so far for anyone tuning in late.
The ending to the story is a bit mixed for me. I’ve always felt that Prescription: Murder, with its feature-length runtime, is too long. With “Enough Rope”, I find myself thinking that an hour is a bit short for this mystery. The length of Columbo episodes during the 70s is really just right. The result in “Enough Rope” is relatively simple, although in style, the final clue definitely has the feel of some later Columbo episodes. I don’t quite care for the clinching moment which resolves the battle of wits between Flemming and Columbo in a less satisfying way. It’s not bad for a 1960s Mystery Anthology show but it gives me more appreciation for the far better ending that Levinson and Link gave Prescription: Murder.
Overall, “Enough Rope” is a fun mystery for the era and really represents a chance to witness the first draft of Columbo and what was already there before Peter Falk came along. So it’s of interest to fans of Columbo or fans of TV mystery drama and is worth watching…while you can watch it.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
How This Got on the Internet
The Paley Center at UCLA held a live online screening of “Enough Rope” in April 2021. The event was to be live and not subject to being rewatched. The portion they archived included interviews with experts. The episode showed up last year on the Internet Archive with the UCLA branding attached and was posted to YouTube. The video I’ve linked above is titled a “Remaster.” Whether this removed the UCLA branding or perhaps is from another rare copy of this program, I don’t know. The copyright on “Enough Rope” was not renewed, and so this episode is in the public domain. I’m not certain what recourse anyone could have. But it’s early days and the circumstances of the release of the episode leaves me uncertain whether this will remain on the Internet forever.
Dragnet, NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, Procedural
Dragnet: The Big Boys (EP4376)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Today’s Mystery: Friday and Romero get a tip on four young fugitive gunmen from San Francisco.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: March 16, 1950
Originating from Hollywood
Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero; Herb Butterfield; Harry Bartell
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
Patreon Supporter of the Day: Louis, Patreon Supporter since March 2018
Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.
Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net
Give us a call at 208-991-4783
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Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives
Join us again on Monday for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
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