Nostalgic Mystery Radio

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Harol...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

The WhistlerYou're walking alone on the street at night, but then you hear another set of footsteps and a haunting tune being whistled by an unseen stranger. The unseen Whistler didn't kill anyone (that we know of), but he certainly loved watching murders take place, narrating them for us, and chuckling at the suffering of others instead of doing anything to stop it. He kept walking the streets every week for thirteen long years, whistling his ominous thirteen notes and telling us anoth...

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on ...

Pat Novak For Hire: Classic old time radio showing starring Jack Webb (1946, 1949) and Ben Morris (1947-48) as Pat Novak, a street wise guy who rents boats and anything else a good man pays a bad one to do.Novak is always getting into scrapes when taking on jobs for hire or occasionally as a favor to a friend. When he does, he goes to see "The Only Honest Guy I Know" an ex-Doctor and a boozer named Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owens). Novak's nemesis is Lieutenant Hellman of Homicide (playe...

Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright....

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.The Stolen Car Ring: Mary's car is stolen. Originally aired April 23rd,1...

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.The Black Halo: Marlowe is hired to find the missing Julia Perry. Murder and a suicide complicate the case and add a surprise ending. Originally aired: January 15th,1949.Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

The Jack Benny Program: The Jack Benny Program was first broadcast on the Blue Network on 2nd May 1932. With his capable cast of supporting players Benny made his show into one of great radio comedy shows. What was so special about this golden-age classic is Benny's ability to come across as a likeable guy despite being vain, argumentative, and a skinflint. People related to Benny and his willingness to often give the best comedy lines in the show to his supporting cast made him popular with ...

The WhistlerYou're walking alone on the street at night, but then you hear another set of footsteps and a haunting tune being whistled by an unseen stranger. The unseen Whistler didn't kill anyone (that we know of), but he certainly loved watching murders take place, narrating them for us, and chuckling at the suffering of others instead of doing anything to stop it. He kept walking the streets every week for thirteen long years, whistling his ominous thirteen notes and telling us anoth...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Shot in the Dark Caper: Sam is hired by a newspaper to solved a murder that was captured in a news ...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Edwar...

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.The Worthington Ghost: Blackie's friend Shorty, apparently just out of j...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Apple of Eve Caper: Eve Adams has been killed, the prime suspect is "Dreama Love."Originally aired ...

Barrie Craig Confidential InvestigatorWilliam Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye Barrie Craig while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a specialty."Murder By Three...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Civic Pride Caper: After an auditorium collapses, Garrett Welsh, the architect, hires Spade to find...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.Hanging by a Thread: George...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through i...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff (in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Crab Louie Caper: Sam is hired to find out how an Italian crab- fisher was killed. Was it an accid...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff (in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Chateau McCloud Caper: Murder on skis at a rich man's winter home. Originally aired January ...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Yanke...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through i...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.Dream Farm: A couple moving...

Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky.He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted,...

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.Murder On The Flying Trapeze: An old school friend of Mary’s who is a tr...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright....

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on ...

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.The Unfair Lady: Marlowe goes South of the Border to find who’s behind a series of diamond thefts. Originally aired June 4, 1949Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop culture podcast discusses the latest retr...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Bouncing Betty Caper: Sam becomes a chauffeur to enter a wealthy home and discover who's been threa...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through i...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.The Blow Off: Jace investig...

Barrie Craig Confidential InvestigatorWilliam Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye Barrie Craig while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a specialty."The Lost Lady: ...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Jacki...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.Amnesia Victim: A man who had a case of amnesia asks Blackie whether he ...

Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright....

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.Evil Under The Sun: The beautiful bronze...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through i...

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on ...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.Nighthawk: A man kills a gi...

Barrie Craig Confidential InvestigatorWilliam Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye Barrie Craig while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a specialty."Murder Island: ...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Calga...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Prodigal Daughter Caper: A story about a multimillionaire who never talks, his daughter who's reall...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through i...

Agatha Christie's Ordeal By InnocenceAccording to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, it is too late—Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’s revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again.Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop culture ...

Agatha Christie's Ordeal By InnocenceAccording to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, it is too late—Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’s revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again.Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop culture ...

Agatha Christie's Ordeal By InnocenceAccording to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, it is too late—Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’s revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again.Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop culture ...

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.The Ebony Link: Marlowe is hired to end a blackmail plot. Originally aired May 28th, 1949Did You Hear About This?This humorous pop culture podcast discusses the latest retro stories and pop culture news.Listen o...

Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright....

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.Murder In The Music Room: The melody-writing member of a feuding song-wr...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on ...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.Prelude To Felony: A ...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Blood...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.Sleeping Murder: Spinster sleuth Miss Marple probes a woman's terrifying flashbacks to trap a murderer. Originally aired December 8th,2001.Did You Hear About T...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

In the the world of the hard boiled detective, Boston Blackie comes comes real close to fitting in, but he just doesn't quite. Of course Blackie isnt a detective or private eye, he is a reformed safe cracker and constantly good natured irritant to the cops!A real Hard Boiled Detective solves the mystery that the cops think he is guilty of, and manages to make the cops look foolish while he does it. So does Boston Blackie.The Hypnotic Murder: Blackie gets in hot water with Farraday when he tak...

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through ...

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Mad Scientist Caper: A slightly insane inventor hires spade to recover his secret formula.Originall...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.Bright Boy: Jace searches f...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked ...

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.The Heat Wave: Why is "The Heat Wave," a burlesque dancer wearing a golden mask? Marlowe's been hired to find out. Murder tries a strip tease!Originally aired: August 16th,1949.Did You Hear About This?This humor...

Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright....

The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff (in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.The Maltese Falcon: Sleuth Sam Spade is drawn into a statuette riddle after his partner is murdered in...

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.Cards On The Table: A perverse eccentric...

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.The Hairpin Turn: Marlowe meets a female sharpshooter it only adds up that she is somehow connected to a dead body - a body shot with a target pistol.Originally aired January 28th,1950.Did You Hear About This?Th...

Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.Th...

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were ch...

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuit...

Yours Truly, Johnny DollarFor over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".The Story...

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on ...