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 BROADWAY’S MY BEAT DRAGNET MR. AND MRS. NORTH BULLDOG DRUMMOND… and more!
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Recent Posts
Broadway is My Beat, CBS, OTR Detective, Podcast
Broadway’s My Beat: The Mary Gilbert Murder Case (EP4517)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Today’s Mystery: At the request of the mother of a condemned man, Danny re-investigates the murder of a jeweler’s daughter.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 26, 1945
Originated in Hollywood
Stars: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Cloverk, Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia, Lillian Buyeff, Parley Baer, Tony Barrett, David Ellis, Vivian Baylor
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Patreon Supporter of the Day:Michelle, Patreon Supporter since January 2022,
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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
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Give us a call 208-991-4783
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Video Theater
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
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Hugh Drummond is going to be married, but first he has to stop a newly-invented atomic from being used to launch a new war. Follow Captain Drummond and his team as they navigate through espionage, murder, and a race against time to prevent global catastrophe.
Original Release Date: November 25, 1938
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Bulldog Drummond, OTR Detective, Podcast, Syndicated
Bulldog Drummond: The Island of Death (EP4516)
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Today’s Mystery:
Captain Drummond and Denny pursue an escapee from a mental asylum with homicidal intentions across an isolated island.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: May 12, 1948
Originating in New York
Starring: Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond; Luis Van Rooten as Denny
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Patreon Supporter of the Day: Daniel, Patreon supporter since October 2023.
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
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Give us a call at 208-991-4783
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, The Falcon
The Falcon: The Case of the Broken Fingerprint (EP4515)
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Today’s Mystery:
A man who is having an affair is murdered.
Original Radio Broadcast Date:June 20, 1951
Originating from New York
Starring: Les Damon as The Falcon; Chuck Webster as Sergeant Corbett
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Patreon Supporter of the Day: Pam, Patreon Supporter since February 2024
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 tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
OTR Detective, Podcast
Old Time Radio Snack Wagon Smorgasboard (EP4514e)
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In August 2023, we launched the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon, featuring a variety of short old time radio programs. In this episode, we offer five samples of the type of programs we feature on the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon.
Family Doctor: False Witness
“Hello there, this is the Family Doctor….”
Join us as we travel back in time to a small town, where Doctor Grant Adams dispenses medicine for the body and common sense advice for the soul, in this little-known family drama series from the 1930s.
In this first episode, a teenage girl becomes the subject of gossip after some church money turns up missing. Can Doc Adams prevent a tragedy?
Potential series air dates for the series vary from 1932-38. The earliest I can find a record of the series being aired was in the fall of 1937.
Unsolved Mysteries: The Borden Mystery
On this first syndicated episode of the 1930s series Unsolved Mysteries, we take a look at the mysterious slaying of Andrew Borden and his second wife Abby in 1892 and how suspicion fell on Andrew’s daughter, Lizzie. Unsolved Mysteries not only explains the case in a nutshell but also offers a solution to the crime.
While Unsolved Mysteries was a syndicated true crime series in the 1930s, it didn’t start out that way. We take a look at the series’s origin and the original program’s sponsorship by Ken-Rad, a Kentucky-based firm selling radio tubes.
The series originated from Station WLW in Cincinnati, and we talk about the station’s forgotten role in the Golden Age of Radio as America’s superstation, and why it was called that.
Cecil B. DeMille interviews Walt Disney about Snow White
Two Hollywood legends share a stage in this listener-inspired Snack Wagon.
The year is 1937. A young filmmaker is about to release a groundbreaking new work, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Walt Disney was invited on the Lux Radio Theater to be interviewed Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille about the film and about what future projects he was working on.
The interview took place on December 20, 1937 in Hollywood, the day before Snow White‘s premiere.
The Adventures of Babe Ruth: Babe Takes the Blame
While on the road in Chicago, Babe tries to help a young boy who was pressured to steal from him by an older boy, and finds himself in plenty of trouble.
Originally Aired in 1949
Sponsored by US Navy Recruiting; the announcer is Jackson Beck
Jack Benny and Fred Allen Patch Up the Feud for Christmas
For the special Command Performance Christmas Eve show, a serviceman requested that Jack Benny and Fred Allen patch up their feud, and this is their answer.
The segment is introduced by Bob Hope who hands the show to Fred Allen and Jack Benny in New York.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 22, 1942
Subscribe to the Old TIme Radio Snack Wagon at https://www.snackwagon.net
Book Review, Golden Age Article
Book Review: Bulldog Drummond
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
H.C. McNeile’s novel Bulldog Drummond (originally Bull-dog Drummond) successfully re-introduced the character of Hugh Drummond to the world (following a little-regarded short story in The Strand in which Drummond was a policeman). In the novel, Drummond is a veteran officer of the First World War who finds himself bored with peacetime living. He puts an ad in the London Times advertising for adventure and gets it when a young woman’s concern about his father’s business acquaintances puts Drummond up against a dangerous of ruthless gang of international conspirators.
Bulldog Drummond fits into a continuity of adventure and mystery literature. The catch-and-release game that Drummond and his foes play calls to mind books like The Lone Wolf and its protagonist, Michael Lanyard, a well as many other adventure books of the era. The concern about sensational conspiracies threatening civilization originated from Anarchist activity prior to World War I, the war itself, and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. A shadowy conspiracy overthrowing the established fo made for a good villain. It also called to mind several later works. Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence would use a similar newspaper ad to find adventure in The Secret Adversary two years later. While reading about Drummond’s escapades and the activities of the men who joined him, I couldn’t help but be reminded of The Saint novels by Leslie Charteris.
What sets Bulldog Drummond apart is the titular character. Drummond is unusual in that one of his most noted characteristics was that he was utterly unattractive. (This was an element that films forgot when casting actors like Ray Milland to play him.) The other key point is that Bulldog Drummond came out in an era when many literary adventurers were various shades of gray with criminals and ex-criminals like Boston Blackie, The Saint, and the Lone Wolf. By contrast, Drummond is a heroic figure, whose decision to delay involving the law reflects honor and love, not attempts to acquire boodle. Drummond is proficient and resourceful, but no genius, which means the spots he gets himself into believable and relatable.
Drummond comes off as a simple, likable hero. He defends the world from forces that seek to overthrow it, not because he believes in the status quo, but because he thinks that evolution, rather than revolution, is key to solving society’s ills.
Beyond that, Bulldog Drummond is a good solid mystery adventure story. If you enjoyed the other stories I’ve mentioned and are in the mood for something fun that’s similar to those, this is worth checking out.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Bulldog Drummond is in the Public Domain and can be read for Free at Project Gutenberg
Dragnet, NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, Procedural
Dragnet: The Big Youngster (EP4514)
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Today’s Mystery:
Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate when a young lawyer’s office is vandalized.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 17, 1950
Originating from Hollywood
Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero; Herb Butterfield
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
Patreon Supporter of the Day:Alexandra, Patreon Supporter since September 2016.
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
Follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/greatdetectives
Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives
Join us again on Monday for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
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