Month: September 2026

Counterspy: The Sweepstakes Murder

Today’s Adventure:

After newspaper reporter Tom Fisher and a small-time grifter are murdered while investigating a fraudulent Mexican sweepstakes racket, David Harding sends Harry Peters to Gulfport, Texas, to follow the trail. A distinctive gold poker chip points Peters toward the offshore gambling ship El Toro, where he discovers that the gambling operation may conceal something far more dangerous below decks.

Original Radio Broadcast: October 4, 1949

Originating from New York

Cast:

  • Don McLaughlin as David Harding
  • Mandel Kramer as Harry Peters
  • Maurice Tarplin as one of the criminals (probable identification)
  • Leonard L. Bass, director
  • Jesse Crawford, music
  • Philip H. Lord, producer

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Night in Paris Matter (EP5065)

Bob Bailey

Today’s Mystery:

Johnny Dollar travels to Paris after his underworld contact Louis de Marsac claims to know the whereabouts of the Olney diamonds, a three-quarter-million-dollar necklace stolen during its owner’s recent visit to the United States. But Johnny’s arrival is greeted by a ransacked apartment and a sudden assault, suggesting that recovering the jewels will mean navigating some dangerous figures in the Paris underworld.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 16, 1959.

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
  • Virginia Gregg
  • Forrest Lewis
  • G. Stanley Jones
  • Tony Barrett
  • Bill James
  • Gus Bay
  • Jack Johnstone, writer, producer, and director

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Dragnet: The Big Donation (EP5064)

Today’s Mystery:

Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Bill Lockwood investigate a group of confidence men posing as authorized solicitors for legitimate charities and pocketing the donations they collect. An early arrest appears promising until the suspect proves he merely copied the scheme, leaving Friday and Lockwood searching for the experienced bunco artists whose fraud is depriving charitable causes of badly needed funds.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 12, 1952

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday
  • Ken Peters as Bill Lockwood
  • Virginia Gregg
  • Vic Rodman
  • Jim Moser, writer
  • Walter Schumann, music
  • Technical advice from the office of Chief W.H. Parker
  • Captain Jack Donahoe, Sgt. Marty Wynn, and Sgt. Vance Brasher, technical advisors
  • Hal Gibney, announcer

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Broadway’s My Beat: The Georgie Beck Murder Case (EP5063)

Larry Thor

Today’s Mystery:

Pickpocket Georgie Beck has repeatedly insisted that someone is following him, but Danny Clover and his colleagues have found nothing to substantiate his fears. When Georgie suddenly calls headquarters saying he has been attacked and then disappears, Danny retraces his movements and discovers an unexpected connection between the small-time thief and a lavish Park Avenue party.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 2, 1952

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover
  • Charles Calvert as Sgt. Gino Tartaglia
  • Jack Kruschen as Sgt. Muggavan
  • Irene Tedrow as Vera Lane
  • Michael Ann Barrett as Barbara Lane
  • Herb Butterfield
  • Ben Wright
  • Leo Cleary
  • Morton Fine and David Friedkin, writers
  • Elliott Lewis, producer and director
  • Alexander Courage, composer and conductor

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The Big Story: The Miracle Phone Call (EP5062)

Today’s Mystery:

Newspaper reporter Dorothy Patterson is contacted by the desperate mother of five-year-old Johnny McDermott, who is gravely ill and needs an expensive experimental treatment his family cannot afford. Despite warnings that readers won’t contribute thousands of dollars to help a child they don’t know, Dorothy puts her faith in the generosity of her community and uses her newspaper column to make an appeal on Johnny’s behalf.

Original Radio Broadcast: April 1, 1953

Originating from New York

Cast:

  • Jan Miner as Dorothy Patterson
  • Francis DeSales
  • Ted Osborne
  • Joey Fallon
  • Bobby Rick (probable identification)
  • Rae Terry
  • Brenna Rayburn
  • Bob Sloane, announcer

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The Saint: No Hiding Place (EP5061)

Vincent Price

Today’s Mystery:

Simon Templar tries to help Tommy Patrick, a prisoner who claims someone has repeatedly tried to kill him and then escapes before Simon can speak with him. Searching for the reason Tommy has been marked for death leads Simon to Tommy’s sister Nancy, a powerful nightclub owner, and questions about the robbery that sent Tommy to prison three years earlier.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 19, 1950.

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Vincent Price as Simon Templar
  • Peggy Webber as the landlady
  • Sheldon Leonard as Frank
  • Victor Rodman as Farrelly
  • Peter Leeds as Sam
  • Dick Crenna as Tommy Patrick
  • Fred Shields as the Warden
  • Larry Dobkin as Louie
  • Dick Powell, writer
  • Leslie Charteris, creator of The Saint
  • James L. Saphier, producer
  • Helen Mack, director
  • Don Stanley, announcer

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Cronin Matter Omnibus (EP5060s)

Bob Bailey

Today’s Mystery:

Johnny Dollar is hired to protect the Circle of Fire, a half-million-dollar diamond-and-emerald necklace belonging to former Broadway sensation Dolly Cronin, who plans to wear it while recreating the lavish parties of her youth. But with Dolly inviting friends from a past she remembers through rose-colored glasses, Johnny quickly discovers that the celebrated necklace may attract people with motives far less sentimental than hers.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 5-9, 1955

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
  • Virginia Gregg
  • Shirley Mitchell
  • Vivi Janis
  • Barbara Fuller
  • Benny Rubin
  • John Dehner
  • Parley Baer
  • Les Crutchfield, writer
  • Jack Johnstone, producer and director
  • Amerigo Marino, musical supervision
  • Roy Rowan, announcer

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Counterspy: Vicious Visitor (A0122)

Today’s Adventure:

Violent bank robber Rocky Gaines escapes from federal prison, and David Harding and Harry Peters join the manhunt as the wounded fugitive heads into the mountains. Gaines seeks refuge with Norma Benton, a woman from his past who has built a new life with her husband, and threatens to expose her secret unless she helps him hide from the authorities.

Original Radio Broadcast: September 29, 1949

Originating from New York

Starring Don McLaughlin as David Harding; Mandel Kramer as Peters

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Lost by a Hair Matter (EP5060)

Bob Bailey

Today’s Mystery:Johnny Dollar is summoned by wealthy widow Grace Tilford, who claims she has discovered that the fire which destroyed her lumberyard was deliberately set—and that one of three people close to her is responsible. Each has a financial motive, but before Grace will reveal the proof she has uncovered, Johnny finds himself facing a far more immediate mystery.

Original Radio Broadcast Date:August 9, 1959

Originated from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
  • Virginia Gregg
  • Helen Kleeb
  • Shirley Mitchell
  • Ben Wright
  • Sam Edwards
  • Harry Bartell
  • Lawrence Dobkin
  • Written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone
  • Jim Matthews, announce

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Dragnet: The Big Whiff (EP5059)

Today’s Mystery:

Sergeant Joe Friday and Frank Smith investigate the death of an unidentified woman found in a vacant lot, apparently the victim of chloroform poisoning. With no identification and little evidence beyond a chloroform-soaked handkerchief, the case takes an unusual turn when a stranger walks into police headquarters and insists that he murdered her.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 5, 1952

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

  • Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday
  • Herb Ellis as Frank Smith
  • Vic Perrin
  • Gil Stratton
  • Jack Kruschen
  • Script by Jim Moser
  • Music by Walter Schumann
  • Technical advice from the office of LAPD Chief W. H. Parker
  • Technical advisors: Captain Jack Donahoe, Sgt. Marty Wynn, and Sgt. Vance Brasher
  • Hal Gibney, announcer

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Broadway’s My Beat: The Joey Croft Murder Case (EP5058)

Larry Thor

Today’s Mystery: Danny Clover investigates the murder of Joey Croft, a Coney Island carnival operator found stabbed and buried in the sand. Suspicion falls on Fred Moore, a recently released ex-con who blamed Joey for sending him to prison, but finding Moore only draws Danny deeper into the tangled relationships of several people from their old carnival days.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 23, 1952

Originating from Hollywood

Credits:

  • Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover
  • Charles Calvert as Sgt. Gino Tartaglia
  • Jack Kruschen as Sgt. Muggavan
  • Alvina Temple as Letty Scott
  • Lou Merrill as Mr. Zabrowski
  • Paula Victor as Nora Forrest
  • Herb Vigran as Ray Kendall
  • Written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin
  • Produced and directed by Elliott Lewis
  • Music composed and conducted by Alexander Courage

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The Big Story: The Biggest Catch (EP5057)

Today’s Mystery:

Young journalism student Don Morrissey is determined to prove he has what it takes to become a full-time reporter for his hometown newspaper in quiet Elkhorn, Wisconsin. His opportunity arrives when three supposed fishermen crash their car into a telephone pole, and Don’s suspicions about the strangely anxious travelers lead him to test whether their fishing story holds water.

Original Radio Broadcast: February 4, 1953

Originating from New York

Cast:

  • Michael O’Day as Don Morrissey
  • Cameron Prudhomme
  • Mandel Kramer
  • Maurice Gosfield
  • Harold Huber
  • Tom Collins
  • John McGovern

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The Saint: Miss Godby’s School for Girls (EP5056)

Vincent Price

Today’s Mystery:

The Saint becomes involved when a blackmailer calls him to give a father a demand for ransom.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 5, 1950.

Originating from Hollywood

  • Vincent Price as Simon Templar / The Saint
  • Peggy Webber
  • Gloria McMillan
  • Maggie Morley
  • Ted Osborne
  • Theodore von Eltz
  • Larry Dobkin
  • Don Stanley, announcer

Script by Dick Powell

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Twice Told Tale: Dangerous Assignment: Guided Missile Plans and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Picture Postcard Matter (EP5055s)

Dangerous Assignment — “Guided Missile Plans”
Steve Mitchell is sent to Dublin to recover stolen microfilm containing plans for a new American guided missile. His pursuit of the suspected courier leads him through England, where two deaths and a series of seemingly innocent picture postcards provide his best hope for locating the missing plans before someone else gets to them.

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar — “The Picture Postcard Matter”
Johnny Dollar travels to Switzerland after $100,000 in uncut diamonds are stolen from a courier at the Zurich airport. His only lead is a mysterious informant offering to arrange their return, but Johnny soon finds himself caught between competing players while a picture postcard offers a cryptic clue to where the diamonds may be hidden.

Original Radio Broadcast Dates:

  • Dangerous Assignment: August 30, 1950.
  • Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: October 1–5, 1956.

Both programs are originating from Hollywood

Cast — Dangerous Assignment:

  • Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell
  • Herb Butterfield as the Commissioner
  • Written by Robert Reif (Bob Reif)
  • Music by Basil Adlam
  • Music conducted by Ralph Hollenbeck
  • Produced and directed by Bill Karn

Cast — Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar:

  • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
  • Lucille Meredith
  • Victor Perrin
  • Forrest Lewis
  • Stan Jones
  • Ben Wright
  • Written by Robert Reif
  • Produced and directed by Jack Johnstone
  • Musical supervision by Amerigo Marino
  • Roy Rowan, announcer

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Counterspy: Visiting Vultures (A0120)

Today’s Adventure:

David Harding and Harry Peters investigate a multimillion-dollar bootleg liquor operation that is using discarded corn-syrup cans to smuggle illegal alcohol into states with government-controlled liquor sales. Their investigation leads to Chicago businessman Hype Gordon, but proving his involvement means finding the hidden still supplying his operation—and Gordon is determined not to lead them to it.

Original Radio Broadcast: September 27, 1949

Originating from New York

Starring Don McLaughlin as David Harding, Mandel Kramer as Peters

To subscribe to this podcast and, go to https://greatadventures.info/

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