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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.

Subscribe to the show by clicking your favorite podcatcher in the sidebar.

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- Your host, Adam Graham

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Amazing World of Radio

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Recent Posts

Broadway’s My Beat: The Mary Gilbert Murder Case (EP4517)

Larry Thor

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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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

Arrest Bulldog Drummond

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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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

Bulldog Drummond: The Island of Death (EP4516)


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

Support the show monthly at https://patreon.greatdetectives.net

Patreon Supporter of the Day: Daniel, Patreon supporter since October 2023.

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

The Falcon: The Case of the Broken Fingerprint (EP4515)

Les Damon

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

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

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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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

Old Time Radio Snack Wagon Smorgasboard (EP4514e)

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

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Book Review: Bulldog Drummond

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: The Big Youngster (EP4514)

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.