53 search results for "Pursuit"

EP1323: Pursuit: Pursuit and the Man Who Died Late

Ben Wright
Inspector Black is presented with a case of a man who appeared to died from assault but was actually shot-months before he died.

Original Air Date: October 2, 1951

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EP1317: Pursuit: Pursuit and the Ladies of Farthing Street

Ben Wright
Black is advised he’d find evidence of a murder and he finds a dead body and is led to two very proper ladies living on Farthing Street.

Original Air Date: September 18, 1951

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EP1311: Pursuit: Pursuit at the Vicarage

Ben Wright

Inspector Black is called in to investigate threats against a beloved local vicar.

Original Air Date: August 21, 1951

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EP1305: Pursuit: Pursuit and the Knife Boys

Ben Wright
Inspector Peter Black closes in on a gang of knife-wielding boys.

Original Air Date: August 14, 1951

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EP1299: Pursuit: Pursuit of the Lonely Heart

Ben Wright

Inspector Peter Black investigates a two year old unsolved murder of a woman where her husband is the prime suspect.

Original Air Date: July 31, 1951

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EP1293: Pursuit: Pursuit and the Man Who Confessed

Ted De Corsia
Inspector Black tries to check the validity of a man who confessed to murdering a woman whose body can’t be found.

Original Air Date: April 11, 1950

 

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EP1287: Pursuit: The Pursuit on Lundy Island

Ted De Corsia
While on vacation, Inspector Black is called to investigate a murder on a boat.

Original Air Date: February 7, 1950

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EP1281: Pursuit: Pursuit of the Tall Man

Ted de Corsia

The police searched for a tall man believed to be behind a series of robberies.

Original Air Date: January 6, 1950

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Pursuit

Listen to “The Great Detectives Present Pursuit” on Spreaker.

This CBS series began in 1949 featuring the adventures of Inspector Peter Black of Scotland Yard. The series attempted to leverage American’s love of British mysteries as well as the large number of British Expatriates in Hollywood at the time  in order to create a mystery series that would stand out for the large number that proliferated on radio during this era.

The series had four separate runs:  a 1949-50 season, a 1950 summer run, and a 1951 Summer run that would lead into a time slot in the 1951-52 radio season. Only a little more than a dozen episode survive from this well-written and well-acted series that is sadly underrated.

Radio Episode Log:

Ted De Corsia Episodes:

John Dehner Episodes:

Ben Wright Episodes:

End of log

Episode log source: Digital Deli FTP

EP1275: Pursuit: Three for All

Ted de Corsia

Inspector Black investigates a serial killer who is notifying the police of his murders.

Original Air Date: November 10, 1949

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Telefilm Review: Matt Houston: The Purrfect Crime

We continue our reviews that focus on Batman actors in other detective and mystery programs as part of our Amazing World of Radio Summer Series, focusing on their old-time radio work. This week, we take a look at Zsa Zsa Gabor, who guest-starred in a 1983 episode of Matt Houston, “The Purrfect Crime.” This episode originally aired January 9, 1983.

Background:

Matt Houston (Lee Horsey) is a Texas oil millionaire who moves to California to oversea off-shore drilling, but focuses most of his time on his hobby—being a private investigator. Horsey played Archie Goodwin in the 1980 Nero Wolfe series (See my review). Pamela Hensley plays his lawyer C.J. Parsons, who assists him on his cases, and, in a typical role for him, George Wydner plays Houston’s business manager whose purpose in the series is to hyperventilate about money.

The Plot:

A Cat Food tycoon who kept exotic cats is killed by his favorite tiger. Murder is suspected and his will bars any of his ex-wives (Gabor, Barbi Benton, Pat Crowley, and Janis Page) from collecting a dime of his money. This appears to be resolved when the police arrest the young, “simple” man  (he’d probably be considered on the autism spectrum today) on the general principle of the police arresting the wrong person without any real evidence or motive.

Matt Houston is not convinced (and who could blame him?) and continues his search for the real killer.

This episode is ludicrous. However, some of it is clearly meant to be. Zsa Zsa Gabor’s character owns a spa (which her character in Batman also did.) She has a protective karate master boyfriend, played by Sonny Bono. Sonny. Bono. His character also announces when he’s about to go into karate fighting mode by screaming, “Karate!”

The episode also included an amusement park chase scene where our hero chases his quarry in a bumper boat and then face plants down a water slide after him in hot pursuit. Some of this is entertainingly goofy, but there are also a few moments of genuinely bad acting and some absurd lines that don’t land.

Horsey attempting to deliver homespun aphorisms is something else. “The kid knows no more about murder than a hog knows about a buggy whip.”

Matt Houston

The solution, once you get through a bunch of artificially imposed drama and hoops, is painfully simple. Of course, the question of whodunnit isn’t quite as clear. But based on the limited evidence, it could have been anyone of three of the deceased’s ex-wives. We’re not really given a clue that supports Houston accusing the murderers. But he’s able to prove his theory with a little bit of trickery.

I’ll admit this is my first experience with the series, so I won’t judge it based on this one episode. According to one reviewer of this episode, this was the most goofy episode of the series. That says something, given the description I found of at least one other episode in this series. According to TV Tropes, in one episode, “Matt is abducted by real aliens in an episode where he’s investigating a (fake) claim of abduction covering up a murder. Of course, he doesn’t remember, no one else sees it, and the abduction has no relevance to the rest of the plot at all.”

All in all, while I can’t say I found the plot all that challenging, I was nevertheless entertained. Sonny Bono’s performance is a delight to watch.  The more you appreciate detective programs that go a bit wacky, and enjoy ’80s cheese, the more you’ll like this episode.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Matt Houston: The Complete Collection is available on DVD.

 

 

 

Dangerous Assignment: The Butterfly Chasers (EP4217)


Today’s Mystery:

Steve parachutes into Brazil in pursuit of a party of lepidopterists, one of whom has a sensitive document that belongs to the US and has been auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: October 22, 1952

Originated in Hollywood

Stars: Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell, Herb Butterfield as the Commissioner

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The Four Worst Old Time Radio Detective Police Characters

While certain characters such as LIeutenant Riley on Let George Do It and Captain Sam Sabbaya are exemplary agents of the law, others are far less so. After looking at the best police foils in old-time radio, we now turn to some of the worst police characters in old time radio.

Ranging from the brutal and corrupt to the painfully inept, there are some figures who engendered little confidence and respect for law from listeners. This isn’t to say their badness made the show bad. In fact, it often served as comic relief or gave the hero an obstacle to overcome. To qualify, the character has to have been a regular recurring member of law enforcement on an old-time radio detective program.

4) Sergeant Otis (Wilms Herbert) from Richard Diamond, Private Detective 

Sgt. Otis was the perfect comic foil for Richard Diamond. As long as Otis remained on the program (prior to Herbert’s sickness and eventual death), Diamond would take joy in nothing more than spending a couple of minutes befuddling and belittling the dimwitted Sergeant. He was also a source of consternation for Lieutenant Levinson as he was easily confused and frequently made serious blunders. This isn’t to say he is completely incompetent. He could go several basic police tasks passably. Sgt. Otis was a likable and endearing character, however, as a Sergeant of Homicide, he’s well below replacement in terms of actual competence.

3) District Attorney John Marham (George Petrie) from Philo Vance

It might reasonably be argued that a District Attorney is not a police officer. The problem is that Markham didn’t seem to know this. He insisted on being involved personally in every single homicide investigation in the city of New York. It would have been one thing if Markham were some investigative genius. Sadly, he was not.

He seems unacquainted with even basic investigative processes and makes ridiculous and illogical accusations (at one point a suspect had to explain why someone else asking him why he’d committed a murder wasn’t actually evidence he’d done it.) Markham’s best friend is Philo Vance and they both eagerly anticipate when a murder might occur so that Vance can go into action. Vance is called in to solve murders that are so basic that in other cities, the local police can solve them, but under Markham’s oppressive micromanagement, the city’s demoralized police force becomes more and more accustomed to being sidelined so Vance can impress Markham with his brilliance, which is usually just decent deduction and fair police methods.

Markham’s not much better as a District Attorney. At one point, he becomes unsure of the guilt of the man he was prosecuting. Rather than having the case dismissed or trying to use legal maneuvering to delay proceedings, he brings Vance in and gives him a deadline to find the real killer. This seems to be a ploy designed so that if Markham dismisses the case, he can quickly find a substitute murderer, thus limiting the political fallout from his flimsy prosecution. While everyone on this list makes someone’s life worse, Markham is the only one to do that for an entire city.

2) Inspector Hellman (Raymond Burr) from Pat Novak for Hire

Pat Novak is unlucky, very unlucky. He has an embarrassing tendency to find himself waking up next to murdered people just as Hellman enters the room.  Hellman invariably accuses Novak of committing the crime and threatens to have the state of California snuff out Novak, despite usually lacking any physical evidence that Novak did it. Hellman would usually let Novak go but scare him enough to do all the heavy lifting for Hellman in solving the case, and then have Novak in on bringing in the suspect in the final scene.

Hellman’s abusiveness was further illustrated by him once beating up Novak (admittedly on this series, everyone beat up Novak). Novak also hints that Hellman isn’t above robbing the bodies of the dead for extra cash. We don’t know whether that’s true or just Novak taking a free dig at someone he understandably loathed. It’s not necessary to put Hellman on this list. The programs reveal Hellman to be lazy, unjust, and badge-heavy.

1) Sergeant Greco (Lou Krugman) from Rocky Jordan

Rocky Jordan features the best police foil in old time radio in Captain Sam Sabaya (Jay Novello), and it also has the worst in Sgt. Greco. Greco hates Rocky Jordan and often acts out of malice, piling up an impressive record of false arrests in his Captain Ahab-esque pursuit of the owner of the Cafe Tambourine for whatever imagined crimes Greco wants to prosecute him for on a given week. Greco’s animus towards Jordan leads him to encourage a mob that would have ripped Jordan apart if they’d caught him.

The only thing to check Greco’s incompetence is his obsequiousness, his ambition to rise in the police, and his knowledge that if he goes too far, he could, at last, bring the wrath of Captain Sabaya down upon himself. Sabaya is understanding and to the credit of the writers of Rocky Jordan, they featured an episode that shows Greco’s family and gives some background that even makes Rocky more sympathetic. So much so that Jordan extended the hand of friendship, only to have Greco classlessly slap it away.

While the character is well-played by Krugan and used to great effect by the writers to create a thorn in Jordan’s side, Greco is and always will be the worst recurring police character in old time radio.

Audio Drama Review: The Fiends of New York

The Fiends of New York City is Big Finish’s latest three-hour Sherlock Holmes release, starring Nicholas Briggs as Holmes and Richard Earl as Watson. It’s set after Watson’s latest marriage to an American actress and after the events of The Seamstress of Peckham Rye. (See: my review here.)

The story proper begins when a man claiming to be an American detective arrives on Holmes’s doorstep with an incredible story. However, he and the object of his pursuit disappear, and Holmes and Watson are beset with more troubles and mysteries, including the return of the elusive Seamstress of Peckham Rye.

The Fiends of New York City is an enjoyable ride through late Victorian London, with a lot of complex twists and plot turns. For the first two parts, the story may be the best we’ve seen from writer Jonathan Barnes, who has written many great Holmes releases. The sound design and acting are impeccable.

Yet, the final part, and in particular, the ending, is a bit frustrating. The core mystery is given a resolution and we’re told that certain things are likely to happen to certain people and Mycroft Holmes and the Seamstress of Peckaham Rye and maybe Sherlock Holmes are all playing games, but we have no idea what the endgame of any of this is. Given that this was cited as a conclusion to the previous release, the ending feels like an anti-climax, in the same way that The Seamstress of Peckham Rye was. While I was fine with that ending, repeating the trick multiple times leads to diminishing return, particularly without a clear indication that the story is going to be more fully resolved.

I can hope that these issues will be sorted out by the end of a future story, but it is frustrating to reach the end of a three-hour audio drama and feel no closer to understanding anything important going on with these characters than when you first started. This is a shame because apart from the weak ending, this was a very entertaining release.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

The Fiends of New York City is available from Big Finish.

AWR0169: Wanted: The Case of Kenneth “Two-Gun” Wagner

Amazing World of Radio

The story of the FBI’s pursuit of a convicted killer who had become a Southern folk legend.

Original Air Date: August 11, 1950

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