
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.
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 SAM SPADE DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT DRAGNET MR. CHAMELEON MEET MISS SHERLOCK… and more!
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Recent Posts
NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, Sam Spade
Sam Spade: The Sinister Siren Caper (EP4191)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Today’s Mystery:
A man hires Spade after receiving an ominous warning that his life is in peril from a dangerous red-headed woman.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: March 16, 1951
Originated from Hollywood
Starred Steven Dunne as Sam Spade, Lurene Tuttle as Effie
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
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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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Video Theater
U.S. Marshal: Stool Pigeon (Detective Video Theater 256)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Marshal Morgan tries to get a captured narcotics smuggler to reveal who the leader of the racket is.
Season 1, Episode 27
Original Air Date: January 22, 1959
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Dragnet, NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast, Procedural
Dragnet: Production 6 (aka: The Red Light Bandit) (EP4190)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Todays Mystery:
Friday and Romero search for a man who robs and beats up innocent citizens while impersonating a police officer.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: July 14, 1949
Originated from Hollywood
Starred: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday, Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero, Raymond Burr as Ed Backstrand, Chief of Detectives, Barney Phillips
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
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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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Golden Age Article
The Oscar-Winning Short-Films of John Nesbitt, Part Two: Of Pups and Puzzles
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
Previous Film: That Mothers Might Live
Of Pups and Puzzles (1941)
This short film is about a revolution in American industrial hiring practices. The one-reel film talks about the old way, where a foreman would look at a group of men, and make a superficial choice as to whom to hire based on who looked strong.
Circumstances were going to make such arcane hiring practices untenable. While the film was released three months prior to Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, America had begun a peace-time draft and ramped up national defense production. Getting the right person into the right job would be critical. To do that, employers turned to psychologists, and behavioral experiments involving three dogs and a chimpanzee.
The film does a good job of making its potentially dry content interesting, as it explains how animal behavior studies changed human hiring practices. Having cute animals on the screen for much of the run time keeps things interesting, and Nesbitt’s storytelling abilities keep the story moving along. The resulting hiring practices of the 1940s are quaint to say the least, as we travel back to a time when unexpectedly pulling a gun out of a drawer and firing it was just all part of the hiring process.
While Of Pups and Puzzles presents its material in an entertaining way, I can’t help but feel actual interest in the film’s content is a bit niche for modern audiences. One IMDB user said it’d be of most interest to “research psychologists and industrial/ organizational personnel specialists.” If you fit that niche or just want to see some old animal footage, you may enjoy this film.
Of Pups and Puzzles is available on YouTube.
CBS, OTR Detective, Podcast, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silver Blue Matter, Episodes Three, Four, and Five (EP4189)
by Yours Truly Johnny Blogger • 0 Comments
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Today’s Mystery:
The murder of a lunchroom owner has raised the stakes in Johnny’s investigation
Original Radio Broadcast Dates: May 9, 10, a11, 1956
Originated from Hollywood
Stars: Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar. Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Lillian Buyeff, Will Wright, Jeanne Bates, Carleton Young, Lawrence Dobkin, Bert Holland, Marvin Miller, Herb Vigran
When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
CBS, Keen and Company, Mr. Chameleon, OTR Detective, Podcast
Mr. Chameleon: The Case of the Fatal Impersonation (EP4188)
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Today’s Mystery:
A friend of Mr. Chameleon’s is murdered while dressed in costume as him.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 3, 1948
Originated in: New York City
Starred: Karl Swenson as Mister Chameleon
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
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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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Dangerous Assignment, NBC, OTR Detective, Podcast
Dangerous Assignment: Nazi Fugitive-Captain Shiller (EP4187)
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Today’s Mystery:
Steve goes to Dakar in West Africa in search of a supposedly dead Nazi sea captain who was a key part of the Fuhrer’s escape plan.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 3, 1951
Originated in Hollywood
Stars: Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell, Herb Butterfield as the Commissioner
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
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 tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
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