Home

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.

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.

Amazing World of Radio

The War

OTR Superman Show

Detective Video Theater

Recent Posts

Sam Spade: The Sinister Siren Caper (EP4191)

Steve Dunne

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

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.

U.S. Marshal: Stool Pigeon (Detective Video Theater 256)

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

Subscribe to our Video Theater feed

Become one of our monthly patreon supporters 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

Dragnet: Production 6 (aka: The Red Light Bandit) (EP4190)

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

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.

The Oscar-Winning Short-Films of John Nesbitt, Part Two: Of Pups and Puzzles

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.

Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Silver Blue Matter, Episodes Three, Four, and Five (EP4189)

Bob Bailey

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

Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call at 208-991-4783

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

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

Mr. Chameleon: The Case of the Fatal Impersonation (EP4188)

Karl Swenson

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

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.

Dangerous Assignment: Nazi Fugitive-Captain Shiller (EP4187)


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.