Month: August 2024

Bob Hope Show: Guest: Zsa Zsa Gabor (AWR0258)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. In our final week, we focus on Zsa Zsa Gabor, who played Minerva in the final episode of Batman.

We begin by featuring her appearance on the Bob Hope Show. In this episode, Bob tries to clear up a misunderstanding between Zsa Zsa and announcer Bill Goodwin but finds himself smitten with her.

Originating in Hollywood

Starring: Bob Hope; Zsa Zsa Gabor; Margaret Whiting; Bill Goodwin; Sheldon Leonard

Original Air Date: November 27, 1953

We then take a look at the final episode of Batman, “Minerva, Mayhem, and Millionaires”, in which a spa owner uses a mind-reading gadget to steal secrets from her millionaire clients to stage high-priced robberies.

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Appearance on KOND Radio (MP3)

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Bulldog Drummond: The Case of the Fatal Right (EP4474)


Today’s Mystery:

A prize fighter is killed by cyanide poisoning.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 14, 1946

Originating in New York

Starring: Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond; Luis Van Rooten as Denny; Jackson Beck

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The Falcon: The Case of the Shopkeeper’s Gun (EP4473)

Les Damon

Today’s Mystery:

A storekeeper is suspected of murdering a conman after confronting him with the gun that was used in the murder.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: April 15, 1951

Originating from New York

Starring: Les Damon as The Falcon; Ken Lynch as Sergeant Corbett; Larry Haines; Bill Zuckert

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Dragnet: The Big Grab (1950) (EP4472)

Today’s Mystery:

The wife of a college professor is kidnapped.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 29, 1950

Originating from Hollywood

Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero

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DVD/Streaming Review: Lifeboat

We continue our reviews that focus on Batman actors as part of our Amazing World of Radio Summer Series, focusing on their old-time radio work. This week, we take a look at Tallulah Bankhead’s starring role in the 1944 film Lifeboat.

Eight American and British citizens are survivors of a passenger ship sunk by a Nazi U-boat. The first to arrive is famed photographer Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead), and she is joined by others, including an engine room crewman (John Hodiak), a wealthy industrialist (Henry Hull), the ship’s steward (Canada Lee), a nurse (Mary Anderson), and a mother (Heather Angel) who lost her baby. The cast is rounded out by actors Gus Smith and Hume Cronyn. They then pull up a U-boat crew survivor (Walter Sleazak), who has plans of his own.

While set in the middle of the ocean, the action is confined to the titular lifeboat, which both gives the film a claustrophobic feel, and a resemblance to a well-done stage play. This effect is furthered by director Alfred Hitchcock’s decision to forgo the orchestral score during the body of the film, with the only music coming from characters singing accompanied by another character on a flute.

That the film feels like a stage play makes it a natural vehicle for Tallulah Bankhead, one of the greatest stage actresses of her era, making a relatively rare film appearance. She gives a performance that shows a nice range. While by default, Connie is a very cynical character, there are softer and lighter moments, as well as a few more extreme moments. At each point, Bankhead is flawless.

Another stand-out performance was William Bendix, best known for his comedy roles, particularly his radio/television work in The Life of Riley. Bendix shows some real dramatic chops in his performance as Gus. Walter Sleazak also portrays a surprisingly complex Nazi character, who is eerily likable for most of his time on screen.

The film is smartly written, and while it’s got a pro-Allies propaganda message, it’s subtler than many of its contemporaries, which caused major controversy at the time. While different from many other Hitchcock vehicles, it still has many hallmarks of the great director’s other work. The limits on budget imposed by wartime hardship are apparent but it makes the most of what it has.

With strong performances all around, this remains an entertaining and engrossing war-time drama even 80 years later.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Wayward Truck Matter (EP4471)

Bob Bailey

Today’s Mystery:

Johnny investigates when a truck hauling a shipment of copper tubing, and its driver, go missing.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: May 26, 1958

Originating from Hollywood

Starring: Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar; Forrest Lewis; John Dehner; Junius Matthews; Stacy Harris; Jack Kruschen

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Mr. Chameleon: The Unwanted Child Murder Clue (EP4470)

Karl Swenson

Today’s Mystery:

A man is murdered after having a fight with his wife over their child.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 19, 1949

Originating from New York City

Starring: Karl Swenson as Mister Chameleon; Frank Butler as Sergeant Dave Arnold

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Broadway’s My Beat: The Paul Thomas Murder Case (EP4469)

Larry Thor

 

Today’s Mystery:

A young man, whom Danny had gotten a job as a delivery boy, disappears with a shipment of jewels, and is then found dead.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: July 28, 1949

Original Release Date: August 14, 2024

Originating in Hollywood

Starring: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Clover; Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia; Wally Maher; Roy Glenn

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Screen Director’s Playhouse: Lifeboat (AWR0257)

Batman Villains of Old Time Radio

We continue our look at actors who played villains in the 1966 Batman TV series. This week, we focus on Tallulah Bankhead, who played the Black Widow in a season 2 two-parter.

We begin by featuring the Screen Director’s Playhouse’s adaptation of the Alfred Hitchcock film Lifeboat, where Bankhead reprises her original screen role.

Original Radio Broadcast: November 16, 1950

Starring: Tallulah Bankhead as Connie Porter: Jeff Chandler as Kovac; Sheldon Leonard; Roy Glenn; Anne Diamond; Barbara Eiler; Henry Roland; Herbert Wilms

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After the drama, we talk about the season 2 two-parter, “The Black Widow Strikes Again” and “Caught in the Spider’s Den”

 

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Bulldog Drummond: Appointment with Murder (EP4468)

 

Today’s Mystery:

A man in a hotel room calls Captain Drummond for help and is murdered while on the phone.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 29, 1945

Original Release Date: August 13, 2024

Originating in New York

Starring: Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond; Luis Van Rooten as Denny

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The Falcon: The Case of the Carved Ham (EP4467)

Les Damon

Today’s Mystery:

A racketeer’s henchman is murdered after disfiguring an actor’s face.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: April 8, 1951

Originating from New York

Starring: Les Damon as the Falcon; Ken Lynch as Sergeant Corbett; Mandel Kramer; Jackson Beck

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Bulldog Drummond’s Peril (Video Theater 277)

Bulldog Drummond’s Swiss wedding is delayed when a guest carrying newly developed artificial diamonds is murdered at a party before the wedding.

Original Release Date: March 18, 1938

Starring: John Howard as Bulldog Drummond; John Barrymore as Colonel Nelson; Louise Campbell as Phyllis Clevering; E.E. Clive as Tenny

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Dragnet: The Big Mink (EP4466)

Today’s Mystery:

Joe Friday and Ben Romero search for the murderer of the owner of a small fur shop.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 22, 1950

Originating from Hollywood

Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero; Herb Butterfield; Virginia Gregg

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Michael Meany Mirage Matter (EP4465)

Bob Bailey

Today’s Mystery:

Johnny Dollar is in Mississippi and has 48 hours to locate $20,000 in stolen Ambergris.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: May 19, 1957

Originating from Hollywood

Starring: Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar; Virginia Gregg; Jeanette Nolan; G. Stanley Jones; Junius Matthews; Gil Stratton; Richard Crenna; John Deh

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Mr. Chameleon: The Murder Clue of the Rope Ladder (EP4464)

Karl Swenson

Today’s Mystery:

A wealthy man’s wife is found murdered.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 12, 1949

Originating from New York City

Starring: Karl Swenson as Mister Chameleon; Frank Butler as Sergeant Dave Arnold

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