Audio dramas and stories released on records were rare but not unheard of before World War 2. For example, the cast of Superman performed several short record-only programs in the first part of the 1940s. However, after the War, children’s records were the primary use of this medium, including Peter Pan, Golden, and Disneyland records. These companies released albums of children’s music and also began to feature stories. Peter Pan became known for its book and story sets in which kids listening could follow along in the book.
Story records often featured adaptations of public domain stories, as well as original children’s material. Some of these records were read by a narrator, and others were full-cast audio dramas. Over time, companies began to produce records about popular children’s characters of the day. Peter Pan was a leader in this, as they produced records for beloved children’s characters like Scooby Doo, Bozo the Clown, the Flintstones, and Yogi Bear. Through their label, Power Records, Peter Pan produced records featuring DC and Marvel’s most famous comic creations. Power Records also dipped its toe into other popular series that would appeal to older kids and adults, like Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Space 1999, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Kojak.
Kojak, the 1970s street-level police series starring Telly Savalas, sticks out in the midst of the Power Records line-up of sci-fi and superheroes. It’s hard to explain why they chose Kojak, as it doesn’t fit their audience. Unfortunately, there’s not much documentation or contemporary reviews of these releases. The best potential explanation I could find is that Power Records competitor Wonderland Records did an album featuring another street-level 1970s cop series, Beretta, the year before, and Power Records decided to match. Of course, we don’t know why Wonderland Records did a Beretta record, but that’s a bit beyond the purview of this review.
Synopsis:
There were a total of four Kojak audio dramas produced by Power Records. The first two, “Five Star Final” and “A Question of Honor“, were comic book and record sets, as was normal for many Powers Records releases. Comic books took the place that children’s books had with the Peter Pan releases. An album was released that collected those two stories as well as two additional tales, “Tourist Trap” and “The Prodigal Son”. The two-record set didn’t include a comic. Each audio drama is between nine and ten-and-a-half minutes long.
In “Five Star Final”, a racketeer leans on a newsstand operator running a small-time numbers game and kills him. In “A Question of Honor”, a white-collar thief selling some hot bonds decides to rob and kill his buyer, take the money and the bonds, and flee. He doesn’t care who he has to kill to make his getaway. In “Tourist Trap”, the owner of one of Kojak’s favorite Greek restaurants is part of an immigration racket to get cheap labor. In “The Prodigal Son”, an entitled junior attorney digs into his father’s files and tries to blackmail a corrupt political appointee. Failing that, the young attorney murders him. Kojak’s investigation into the crime is frustrated by a pompous FBI agent.
Review:
The voice talent in this release is superb. There are six listed cast members (five men and one woman) for the album who voice all the characters that show up throughout four different episodes and you wouldn’t know it. As was typical for Power Records, the actual actors from the TV series didn’t participate. However, the actor who plays Kojak is uncanny and I found myself thinking it was Telly Savalas a few times during the record. It really is a remarkable performance.
The sound effects are good particularly for the era. The Greek restaurant in “Toruist Trap” is well-realized.
This one uses the series’s music as opposed to many other Power records, which had to settle for generic stock music. This gives it a nice bit of authenticity and continuity with the show. And the same goes for the artwork for the comic and record set. The supporting cast members (Captain McNeil, and Detectives Crocker and Stavros) are very good representations of the characters as they appear on television. The overall feel and art for the comic story works fine in the crime genre. My only issues with it are one questionable coloring choice, and a goof where a female police officer who we’re told is a detective is drawn in uniform. But those are minor points in a solid artistic output.
The stories themselves are entertaining, though varying in quality. “Tourist Trap” is the strongest story as it lets us see Kojak in a unique situation. “A Question of Honor” is a very intense tale with so much happening in its nine-minute run time. “Five Star Final” is fine, although it is probably the most forgettable of the four. The titular “Prodigal Son” of the last story is a bit insufferable, made so by a scene where he talks with his dad at his office to complain about how he’s entitled to success as he’s the greatest attorney ever. This is mitigated by satisfying scenes of Kojak pushing around a federal agent.
While fun, the stories are simplified. This means criminals make some dumb mistakes or escalate quickly to bring the story to a head. While it wasn’t the typical practice of Power Records, it may have been a stronger production had Power opted to make two stories of eighteen or nineteen minutes rather than the shorter tales featured. This would make particular sense given the radio revival movement in the 1970s that saw millions tuning in to programs like The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, showing that listener attention spams could support the longer length.
Still, it’s an entertaining curiosity that is a nice treat for fans of Kojak or 1970s detective dramas in general.
Slade investigates the disappearance of a pharmacist’s assistant.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 30, 1964 (likely)
Originating in Hollywood
Starring: William Wintersole as Mathew Slade; Norman Belkin as Sergeant Sid Dinelli; Karl Swenson as Lt. Barney Flagg; William O’Connell; John Anniston; Valora Noland; Stuart Levin; Joyce Reed
Aired as Starlight Mystery Theater. Also known as Matthew Slade, Private Investigator.
The third collection (affiliate link) of surviving Paul Temple radio episode serials brings listeners all five Paul Temple radio series released by the BBC between November 1959 and March 1968, starring Peter Coke as mystery writer and detective Paul Temple and Marjorie Westbury as his wife Steve.
Most of the serials were broadcast in eight half-hour installments. The exception to this is 1965’s “The Geneva Mystery,” which was only six parts. There are three serials that were original and two that that were remade from previously used scripts. The 1959-60 version of “The Gilbert Case” may be the most superfluous surviving serial, as the 1954 version of this same serial, which also starred Coke and Westbury, survives, and the scripts are virtually identical, although the supporting cast is identifying. “The Jonathan Mystery” fills in a key gap, as the 1951 version of the serial, starring Kim Peacock and Westbury is missing.
The serials follow very similar formulas. An inciting event presents Paul Temple a baffling set of circumstances that invariably draw him into a case and into danger. He and Steve provide charming banter and are the souls of friendly politeness to all they meet. There are many cordial conversations, and some a bit more rough, as Paul has friends in high and low places. Along the way, there will be a car crash or two, an explosion, and probably an attempted poisoning or two. There are also plenty of red herrings.
Paul Temple mysteries are complex affairs that keep the audience guessing. The crimes are never for the simple straightforward reasons most detective fiction operates in. Paul Temple cases don’t really come down to simple motives like revenge, lust, or greed. Rather, they are complicated affairs involving complex criminal conspiracies for crimes like smuggling, blackmail, and drug trafficking. Thus the mystery doesn’t follow a simple “Whodunit?” plot. The why of the murder is actually the biggest question. The who of the murder involves figuring out where each of the suspects fits (or doesn’t) into the broader criminal conspiracy and who is deceiving Paul Temple for some relatively trivial reason or because they’re secretly undercover detectives.
Paul and Steve have some great conversations about the case and Steve is a great audience representation character for raising the right questions that the audience would ask (at least if they were as clever as her). However, so he doesn’t tip his hand too much to the audience, he often withholds answers or only hints to tease the audience and set up the final denouement, which usually occurs in his flat with all the suspects gathered, and often ends in an escape attempt he hasn’t fully prepared for.
The stories are filled with tropes and cliches, which will annoy some listeners. However, writer Frances Durberidge knew his audience, he knew what they wanted, and he wrote his scripts that way, and also had top-notch casts that carried them off without a hitch (aside from the occasionally dodgy attempts at American accents by the guest cast). If you listen to one Paul Temple episode and you like the style of the story and want to hear others with the same style, you can listen to any other Paul Temple mystery and be just as delighted.
As tough as it is to differentiate between one Paul Temple story and another, there are some subtle differences in those stories that were original to the 1960s. “The Margo Mystery” of 1961 begins with a really intense moment (for Paul Temple anyway) where Steve is frantic and Temple is at his most grim. There’s also a smattering of minor swear words in the later serials that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today. The only big differentiation I’d call out is that the final cliffhanger in “The Alex Affair” (1968) is probably the best cliffhanger in any surviving serial (although the payoff in the final part is a bit lackluster).
The collection includes the bonus BBC radio program from 2005, Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair, where the BBC’s Michael Saunders interviews the then-92-year-old Coke about Paul Temple. Coke had retired from acting to focus on antiquing and his seashell art. Coke is sharp and able to provide keen insights from his time on the series, and Saunders is able to communicate to him how the serials are still appreciated by younger audiences on reruns on BBC 7 (now BBC Radio 4 Extra).
This makes a nice bonus on an already splendid collection. To the end of its original radio run, Paul Temple remained a delightful series that served its audience well. If you’d enjoy a pleasant mid-twentieth British mystery featuring skilled radio actors and crew, this (or the previous Paul Temple sets) are well-worth checking out.
