Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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Radio City Playhouse "Local Storm" (12-04-49) - Boxcars711 Weekend Matinee Mar 02, 2008

Show notes

RADIO CITY PLAYHOUSE - A Half-hour drama, sometimes comedy, often very exciting and suspenseful. The cast were made up of New York veterans of radio and stage, including Jan Minor and John Larkin as featured performers. The director, Harry W. Junkin, also served as the show's host and narrator. Each week the show introduced a new story, often written by well-known writers of fantasy and suspense such as Ray Bradbury, Cornell Woolrich, Agatha Christie and Paul Gallico. They were dramatized with a full orchestral soundtrack and excellent sound effects.

Adventures Of Sam Spade "The Critical Author Caper" (8-15-48) - Boxcars711 Weekend Matinee Mar 02, 2008

Show notes

The Adventures of Sam Spade â 1946-1951Sam Spade was a tough private investigator. Each case was unfolded as a report dictated to his secretary, Effie, who was always flustered and secretly in love with him. He always quoted his license number and referred to each investigation as a âcaperâ. Each report was dated with the actual airdate. CAST: Howard Duff, Steve Dunne, Lurene Tuttle, John McIntire, William Conrad, Cathy and Elliot Lewis, June Havoc, Joseph Kearns, Jerry Hausner, Elliott Reid, Mary Jane Croft, Jeanette Nolan, Betty Lou Gerson.

Murder By Experts "Case Of The Missing Mind" (12-26-49) - Boxcars711 Weekend Matinee Mar 01, 2008

Show notes

Murder By Experts. December 26, 1949. Mutual network. "The Case Of The Missing Mind". Sustaining. A comedy about a Broadway character being driven mad by "Mr. Aladdin." John Dickson Carr (host), Carl Eastman, Ann Shephard, William Zuckert, Bert Cowlan, Ralph Camargo, Phil Tonken (announcer), Robert A. Arthur (producer, director), David Kogan (producer, director), Emerson Buckley (conductor), Craig Rice (guest expert), Joseph Ruscoll (writer). 29:54.

The Man From Homicide "Old Man Kelso" (7-16-51) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Mar 01, 2008

Show notes

MAN FROM HOMICIDE 1951 ABC show with Dan Duryea Lieutenant Lou Dana, the man from homicide. Dan Duryea stars in this action packed series heard on ABC.THIS EPISODE:July 16, 1951. ABC network. Sustaining. An excellent action-packed whodunit. "Old Man" Kelso, a man with $9 million is found dead with a spear through his body. Lieutenant Lou Dana investigates. Barney Phillips, Basil Adlam (composer, conductor), Bill Bouchey, Dan Duryea, Dick Powell, Dwight Hauser (director), Herb Butterfield, Joe Gilbert (writer), Orval Anderson (announcer), Tony Barrett. 29:30.

Captain Midnight - The Perada Treasure (Episode22 and 23 SHOW TWO OF TWO) 1939 - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Feb 29, 2008

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The Perada Treasure Episode22 and Episode 23 (11-14-39)SHOW TWO OF TWO

Captain Midnight - The Perada Treasure (Episode20 and 21 SHOW ONE OF TWO) 1939 - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Feb 29, 2008

Show notes

The Perada Treasure Episode20 and Episode 21 (11-14-39)SHOW ONE OF TWOCaptain Midnight was a U.S. radio serial broadcast from 1938 to 1949. Created by radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, the program was developed at WGN in Chicago. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, it began as a syndicated show in the fall of 1938, airing on a few midwest stations through the spring of 1940. In the fall of 1940, Ovaltine took over sponsorship, and the series was then heard nationally on the Mutual Radio Network where it remained until December, 1949.

Philo Vance "The Poetic Murder Case" (8-24-48) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 29, 2008

Show notes

Philo Vance was the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Vance, in the original books, is an intellectual so highly refined he seems he might be ghostwritten by P. G. Wodehouse. Take this quote from The Benson Murder Case, 1924, as Vance pontificates in his inimitable way: "That's your fundamental error, don't y' know. Every crime is witnessed by outsiders, just as is every work of art. The fact that no one sees the criminal, or the artist, actu'lly at work, is wholly incons'quential." Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. 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. Perhaps one reason the organist "pulls out all the stops" is because there seems to be little, if any, sound effects on the show. Philo Vance, the radio series, does pay homage to the original books in that both were, even in their own time, a bit out of date and stilted.THIS EPISODE:Program #7. ZIV Syndication. "The Poetic Murder Case". Commercials added locally. Two drama critics are murdered, with a poem knifed to their chests. A third critic is then killed, and the main suspect in, "Longfellow." Jackson Beck. 26:23.

Wayside Theater "The Absent Minded Professor" (1-01-39) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 29, 2008

Show notes

The Wayside Theater. January 1, 1939. WBBM, Chicago. "The Adventure Of The Absent Minded Professor". Sponsored by: The Chicago Motor Club. The ultimate absent minded professor story...as the chemistry building explodes! Olan Soule, Patricia Dunlap, Addison Simmons (writer), Verne Smith (announcer), Bill Bouchey, Reese Taylor, Frank Dane, Herb Butterfield, Lesley Woods, Forrest Lewis. 29:29.

Perry Mason Mystery "Case Of The Crooked Candle" (11-30-57) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 29, 2008

Show notes

Perry Mason is the longest running lawyer show in American television history. Its original run lasted nine years and its success in both syndication and made-for-television movies confirm its impressive stamina. Mason's fans include lawyers and judges who were influenced by this series to enter their profession. The Mason character was created by mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner and delivered his first brief in the novel The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933). From 1934 to 1937 Warners produced six films featuring Mason. A radio series also based on Mason ran every weekday afternoon on CBS radio from 1944 to 1955 as a detective/soap opera. When the CBS television series was developed as an evening drama, the radio series was changed from Perry Mason to The Edge of Night and the cast renamed so as not to compete against the television series.THIS EPISODE:The Case of the Crooked Candle from Perry Mason aired November 30, 1957. While Martha Bradford is waiting for her appointment at a beauty parlor, she meets Rita Bradford who apparently is also married to Joe Bradford and lives at the same address. Joe Bradford is preparing for a business meeting in San Diego. He makes plans to meet his wife Martha but fails to show up. Joe Bradford is found dead on his boat the next morning and Martha Bradford is accused of his murder when her fingerprints are found on a candle located on the boat.

It's A Crime Mr. Collins "Brown Alligator Briefcase" (1956) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 28, 2008

Show notes

It's A Crime Mr. Collins. 1956. Mutual network origination, syndicated. "The Brown Alligator Briefcase". Commercials added locally. Not auditioned. "Any girl would want to be alone in the Mediterranean moonlight, with a very handsome man...unless he were a murderer!" The accent of the Italian police chief sounds Transylvanian. The date is approximate. Mandel Kramer, Gail Collins, Richard Denning. 23:25.

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