Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee - The Untouchables "The Empty Chair" (10-15-59) Aug 12, 2007

Show notes

This show was based on the life of real treasury dept. gangbuster Eliot Ness, who had in fact played an important part in stopping the power of the notorious Al Capone in 1931 Chicago. The Ness autobiography served as the basis of a two-part semidocumentary dramatization of the Capone affair, presented on a 1959 Desilu Playhouse. It was a huge hit that turned into a regular series the next fall. It followed Ness and his small band of incorruptible agents (called the "Untouchables" by a Chicago newspaper) as they battled the worst people in organized crime. (Ness had in real life disbanded the Untouchables after cracking the Capone case, and had nothing to do with most of the cases dramatized on TV.) The Untouchables went after hoods like Bugs Moran, in whose garage the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Screen Directors Playhouse "Lady Gambles" (12-14-50) Aug 11, 2007

Show notes

From 01/09/49 to 09/28/51 this series was greatly enjoyed by the radio listening audience. It opened as NBC Theater and was also known as The Screen Directorâs Guild and The Screen Directorâs Assignment. But most people remember it simply as Screen Directorâs Playhouse. Many of the Hollywood elite were heard recreating their screen roles over the radio. John Wayne in his rare radio appearances, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, Lucille Ball, Claire Trevor, Tallulah Bankhead and many others were on the air week after week during these broadcasts. Many of Hollywoodâs directors were also heard in the recreation of their movies. The President of the Screen Directorâs Guild appeared on 02/13/49, and Violinist Isaac Stern supplied the music for the 04/19/51 broadcast.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Dangerous Assignment "International Blackmail" (3-20-50) Aug 11, 2007

Show notes

LAST BROADCAST: July 1st 1953 SPONSORS: Ford Motors, General Mills CAST: Brian Donlevy, Herb Butterfield, GeGe Pearson, Ken Peters, Betty Lou Gerson, Dan OâHerlihy ANNOUNCERS: John Storm PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Don Sharpe WRITERS: Bob Ryf ORCHESTRA: Steve Ashley Dangerous Assignment â 1950-1954 This thirty-minute spy adventure featured Steve Mitchell, and investigator of crimes in exotic locations. 60 episodes. The opening was the same every week âYeah, danger is my assignment. I get sent to a lot of places I canât even pronounce. They all spell the same thing though, trouble.â He would be summoned to his bossâs office where he would be given his assignment; he would then fly halfway across the globe to save the day!

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Lights Out "Death Robbery" (7-16-47) Aug 10, 2007

Show notes

Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring "tales of the supernatural and the supernormal." It was immensely popular, and was one of the first horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. In its heydey, Lights Out rivalled the popularity of those shows. Lights Out ran through several series and networks, from January 1, 1934 to August 6, 1947. The principal sponsor was Ironized Yeast. Most episodes were broadcast at midnight. Lights Out then made the transition to television in 1949, where it was broadcast until 1952. Created in Chicago by writer Wyllis Cooper in 1934.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Casebook Of Gregory Hood "Derringer Society" (7-08-46) Aug 10, 2007

Show notes

The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Gale Gordon in the title role, took over where Sherlock Holmes had left off. Sponsored by Petri wine, it used the same "weekly visit" format and the same team of Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green that had written The New Adventured of Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood was modelled after true-life San Francisco importer Richard Gump, and many of the stories revolve around a mystery surrounding some particular imported treasure. Hood's sidekick Sanderson "Sandy" Taylor was played by Bill Johnstone. The show aired from June, 1946 through August, 1950. There were an additional couple of shows aired in October 1951. Hood and Sanderson were played in later episodes by Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, respectively.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Adventures Of Philip Marlowe "Where There's A Will" (10-17-48) Aug 09, 2007

Show notes

The first portrayal of Phillip Marlowe on the radio was by Dick Powell, when he played Raymond Chandler's detective on the Lux Radio Theater on June 11, 1945. This was a radio adaptation of the 1944 movie, from RKO, in which Mr. Powell played the lead. Two years later, Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in a summer replacement series for the Bob Hope Show on NBC. This series ran for 13 shows. On September 26, 1948, Gerald Mohr became the third radio Marlowe, this time on CBS. It remained a CBS show through its last show in 1951.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Abbott & Costello Show "Visit To Tin Pan Alley" (12-07-44) Aug 09, 2007

Show notes

Abbott and Costello William (Bud) Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo) were an American comedy duo whose work in radio, film and television made them one of the most popular teams in the history of comedy. Thanks to the endurance of their most popular and influential routine, "Who's on First?" â whose rapid-fire word play and comprehension confusion set the preponderant framework for most of their best-known routines â the team is, as a result, featured in the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Contrary to popular belief, however, the duo was not inducted into the Hall). Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, NJ, October 2, 1895 and died April 24, 1974 in Woodland Hills, California. Lou Costello was born in Paterson, NJ, March 6, 1906 and died March 3, 1959 in East Los Angeles, California.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Damon Runyon Theater "Romance In The Roaring 40's" (1-16-49) Aug 08, 2007

Show notes

The Damon Runyon Theater was a 52 show series that was syndicated across the USA beginning in early 1949. Damon Runyon was a gifted sports writer in New York City as well as being a great journalist and great short story writer. His stories were humorous ones, written in the "dem" and "dose" vernacular of the city's loveable and not so loveable characters of Broadway, the prize ring and the underworld. His most famous collection of short stories, Guys and Dolls, was on Broadway and later made into a movie. Many of his stories were filmed including Sorrowful Jones, A Pocketful of Miracles, Lady for a Day, Blue Plate Special, The Lemon Drop Kid (twice) and Little Miss Marker (four times). In addition to this The Damon Runyon Theater was syndicated for television in the mid 1950s.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Night Beat "Flowers On The Water" (3-27-50) Aug 08, 2007

Show notes

Frank Lovejoy stars as Randy Stone, a toughened, street-wise Chicago Star reporter working the Nightbeat in the early 1950's. Sometimes the capers are cops and robbers. Or just normal people in trouble. Sometimes they deserve it. Sometimes fate twists their arm. Sometimes they're just too scared or confused to know the difference. Lovejoy is a seasoned pro of radio and film with an honest, gripping delivery. Solid supporting casts, good writing and direction.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Edgar Bergan & Charlie McCaerthy "Marilyn Monroe" (10-26-52) Aug 08, 2007

Show notes

In 1937, Americans began a Sunday night ritual that lasted three decades. They tuned in to the Bergen and McCarthy show. It was the top program on radio and Hollywood's top movie stars lined up to make cameos. They included Mae West, whose flirtations with McCarthy got her banned from NBC for 15 years, and Marilyn Monroe, who once became "engaged" to marry McCarthy -- a stunt that ended when the dummy couldn't submit to a blood test. The arrival of television produced a new set of star ventriloquists, including Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney, and Senor Wences and Pedro, the famous head-in-the-box who's favorite phrase was "S'awright!" But none was as enduring as Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, who debuted in 1957 on the Captain Kangaroo Show. Lewis went on to star in several children's TV shows in a career that spanned five decades, until her death in 1998. Asbury says she was more than just the best female ventriloquist -- she may have been the best ventriloquist ever because of "boundless talent and energy" and her ability to change with the times.

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