Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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Academy Award Theater - Guest In The House (09-25-46) Feb 22, 2009

Show notes

Academy Award Theater - Stars and movies with Oscars were the idea - in most cases, the movie stars recreated their academy award roles for the show, or in other cases, fine actors played the parts and gave it a different character. Both ways make for great radio drama and first class Hollywood motion picture star entertainment. The Lux Radio Theater had been doing this kind of radio show in the grandest manner for many years, but sponsor Squibb had the hubris and deep pockets to take on the competition by doing Academy Award Theater right after the Second World War. The year 1946 was pre-television, and so movies were still the major American visual art form, with radio the other popular network entertainment. In this final pre-TV time, Academy Award Theater was thought of as a premier radio production, a wow show, much like CinemaScope was to be in the 1950's when Hollywood felt the box office blow of early TV.

THIS EPISODE:

September 25, 1946. CBS network. "Guest In The House". Sponsored by: Squibb Drugs. A neurotic disrupts the happy home life of her doctor's family. Joan Lorring, Anita Louise, Kirk Douglas. 1/2 hour.

Calling All Cars - San Quentin Prison Break (01-16-35) Feb 20, 2009

Show notes

Calling All Cars was one of radio's earliest cop shows, dramatizing true crime stories and introduced by officers from the Los Angeles and other police departments. The narrator of the program was speech professor Charles Frederick Lindsley, and the only other regular voice heard on the program week after week belonged to that of Sergeant Jesse Rosenquist of the L.A.P.D., whose name and voice were so unusually distinctive that he was retained for the show's entire run. None of the actors on the show ever received on-air credit, but among the talent OTR fans can hear the likes of Elvia Allman, Jackson Beck, Charles Bickford, John Gibson, Richard LeGrand and Hanley Stafford, just to name a few.

THIS EPISODE:

January 22, 1935. Program #61. CBS Pacific network (Don Lee network). "The San Quentin Prison Break". Sponsored by: Rio Grande Oil. Four convicts have just escaped from San Quentin prison, they are reported heading north with four members of the prison board as hostages. The actual prison break happened just "last Wednesday." The program has also been dated January 16, 1935. The initial dramatization of the event (also on the Don Lee net, which was used as the CBS Pacific net) took place just a half hour after the capture of the escaped convicts. William N. Robson dramatized how this story was produced on "The Columbia Workshop" on September 5, 1936. The system cue has been deleted. Not auditioned. District Attorney Albert Bagshaw speaks from KFRC, San Francisco. William N. Robson (writer, producer), Charles Frederick Lindsley (narrator), Albert Bagshaw (may be impersonated). 29:05.

Broadway Is My Beat - The Morrie Brandeis Case (11-26-49) Feb 20, 2009

Show notes

Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With music by Robert Stringer, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air, with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb. Beginning with the July 7, 1949 episode, the series was broadcast from Hollywood with producer Elliott Lewis directing a new cast in scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The opening theme of "I'll Take Manhattan" introduced Detective Danny Clover (now played by Larry Thor), a hardened New York City cop who worked homicide "from Times Square to Columbus Circle -- the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."

2000 Plus - Alone (11-12-50) Feb 19, 2009

Show notes

2000 AD (2000 Plus) is known as the first of the network science fiction shows, although it ran on Mutual just a month prior to the introduction of the landmark series, Dimension X. It was a half hour of science fiction wonder in an exciting package. The stories have a charm that is always present in science fiction of the future that is written in the past. "When The Worlds Met" takes place "at the giant space port in Washington, temporary capitol of the federated world government as in April 21, 2000 Plus 20 (2020) crowds throng as audio and televox networks cover a space ship carrying in its space hold the first load of uranium taken from the pits of Luna, satellite of Earth.

The Avenger - Diploma Of Death (11-16-45) Feb 18, 2009

Show notes

The Avenger is an Old Time Radio show aired by the South African Broadcasting System in the 1940s. It featured a biochemist crime-fighter by the name of Jim Brandon. Mr. Brandon had two inventions which assisted him in the fight against crime. Mr. Brandon was able to pick up telpathic thought flashes and had a diffusion capsule which allowed him to become invisible. SYNDICATED by:Charles Michelson WRITTER: Walter Gibson STARS: James Monks, Dick Janiver as the invisible Jim Brandon WITH: James LaCurto.

THIS EPISODE:

The Avenger. November 16, 1945. Program #24. Michelson syndication. "The Diploma Of Death". Commercials added locally. Charles Michelson (producer), Walter Gibson (writer), Ruth Braun (writer), Gilbert Braun (writer). 1/2 hour.

Box 13 - Damsel In Distress (11-14-48) Feb 18, 2009

Show notes

Box 13The premise of the program was that Dan Holiday was an author who wrote mystery novels. To get ideas for his novels he placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything, Box 13." The ads always brought fun adventures of all kinds: from racketeer's victim to psychotic killer looking for fun. Most of the episodes were based on Dan Holiday replying to a letter he received at Box 13. He would generally solve a mystery in the process, and return to his office in time to enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of Suzy, his amusingly stupid secretary. He would certainly not meet the strictest requirements for private eyes (not licensed, collected no fees from clients), but the definition should stretch to sneak him in under the rope. It was heard over the Mutual Broadcasting System as well as being syndicated. The series was produced by Mayfair Productions. Box 13, starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday. Sylvia Picker played Suzy, Dan Holiday's secretary and Edmond MacDonald as Lt. Kling. Other stars in the series were Betty Lou Gerson, Lurene Tuttle, Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, John Beal and Frank Lovejoy. Music was by Rudy Schrager and the writer was Russell Hughes. Announcer/Director was Vern Carstensen. The series was produced by Richard Sanville with Alan Ladd as co-producer.

THIS EPISODE:

November 14, 1948. Program #13. Mayfair syndication. "Damsel In Distress". Commercials added locally. Constance McLain, a wealthy girl at a private school, asks Dan to protect her from a blackmailer. She then disappears! A loud crash is heard in the studio during the program, which is ignored by the cast. Alan Ladd, Edmond MacDonald, Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Russell Hughes (writer), Sylvia Picker, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 27:28.

Blair Of The Mounties - Cherry Hill Mystery (2 Ep.-Complete) 1938 Feb 17, 2009

Show notes

Blair of the Mounties is the story of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police -- a fictional series based on the work of the Northwest Mounted Police before the World War I. It was a fifteen minute weekly serial heard every Monday for 36 weeks beginning January 31st, 1938 and running through the 3rd of October of 1938. It may have been on the air as early as 1935, although there's no actual proof of this. Little is known of the series other than it followed the exploits of Sgt. Blair of the Northwest Mounted Police. and probably was the inspiration for Trendell, Campbell and Muir's Challenge of the Yukon. The series was written by Colonel Rhys Davies, who also played the Colonel Blair in the series. Jack Abbot played the Constable. Jack French, one of OTR's best researchers says this about the series: "Blair is not restricted to Canada, as other Mounties, as we find him, in a few cases, in Great Britain, solving cases. Overall the series is amateurishly written, with the actor playing Blair coming accros as a bit stuffy."

THIS EPISODE:

April 4, 1938. Program #10. Walter Biddick syndication. "The Cherry Hill Mystery" Part one. An innocent man will be hanged unless Blair can find out how two men were shot...without a gun! . 12 1/4 minutes.

April 11, 1938. Program #11. Walter Biddick syndication. "The Cherry Hill Mystery" Part two. With clever deduction, Blair discovers the killer and the murder weapon. . 13 1/4 minutes.

The Arthur Godfrey Show - Recalling 1949 (04-26-72) Feb 16, 2009

Show notes

The Arthur Godfrey Show - Godfrey was born in New York City. While his family was originally well off, his mother was unsuccessful as a performer with aspirations to fame and stardom that never materialized, and his father was a failed sportswriter who left the family. With the family in sudden poverty, Godfrey tried to help them survive by going on the road accepting odd jobs, and hoboing. He served in the United States Navy from 1920 to 1924 as a radio operator on naval destroyers. Additional training in radio came during Godfrey's service in the Coast Guard from 1927 to 1930. It was during a Coast Guard stint in Baltimore that he appeared on a local talent show and became popular enough to land his own brief weekly program.

The Clock - Gus Fowler (07-21-47) Feb 15, 2009

Show notes

The Clock, Imported from Austrailia, was a dramatic thirty-minute suspense and mystery series. It was written by Lawrence Klee and was first broadcast in November 1946. The story always began the same; "Sunrise and sunset, promise and fulfilment, birth and death … the whole drama of life is written in the sands of time". This is a great series where the main theme seems to be Retribution. Stories as told by Father Time.

THIS EPISODE:

July 21, 1947. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Gus Fowler". Participating sponsors. A man with a month to live and a strange bargain. WRVR rebroadcast date: August 31, 1973. The date above is the date of the first broadcast on ABC. . 1/2 hour.

The Air Adventures Of Jimmy Allen - Episodes 458 and 459 (1936) Feb 14, 2009

Show notes

The Air Adventures Of Jimmy Allen This series included the boy wonder and pilot, Jimmie Allen, his best teenage buddy, Speed Robertson, and mechanic Flash Lewis. As a team they would solve crimes often at the hands of their enemies the corrupt Black Pete and the dishonorable Digger Dawson. Young listeners could join the very popular Jimmie Allen Flying club, complete with a "personal letter" from the boy wonder himself. Jimmie Allen was so popular a character that Paramount shot the feature film The Sky Parade.

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