Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 620 - Fool Me Once (Sherlock Holmes, Box 13, Philip Marlowe, & Broadway is My Beat) Mar 30, 2025

Show notes

In honor of April Fool's Day, our radio detectives this week have to contend with some practical jokes and jokers that are anything but funny. Dr. Watson is enlisted to pull a prank on Sherlock Holmes in "The April Fool's Day Adventure," starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (originally aired on Mutual on April 1, 1946). Dan Holiday tries to find a deranged jokester before his antics turn deadly in "Death is No Joke" from Box 13. A fake will reading turns into a real crime scene as Philip Marlowe hunts for a killer in "The Last Laugh" (originally aired on CBS on April 2, 1949), and Detective Danny Clover has to find out who killed a celebrated prankster in "Laugh-a-Minute Tyler" from Broadway is My Beat (originally aired on March 14, 1953).

Episode 619 - Metropolis March Madness (Adventures of Superman) Mar 23, 2025

Show notes

The action is on and off the basketball court this week as Superman battles a hate group that targets a high school team just because of the ethnicities of its players. Clayton "Bud" Collyer stars as Clark Kent and the Man of Steel in "The Knights of the White Carnation," a serialized adventure that aired on Mutual from February 26 through March 18, 1947.

Episode 618 - Jailbreak! (Boston Blackie, Richard Diamond, The Saint, & Dragnet) Mar 16, 2025

Show notes

Sound the alarm! We've got fugitives on the lam in these radio mysteries - each with an escape from jail at the center of the story. A convict Boston Blackie put behind bars is out and making his way to Blackie's door in a syndicated mystery, and Richard Diamond, Private Detective suspects an escaped gangster is back in town and settling scores in "The Ralph Baxter Case" (originally aired on NBC on April 26, 1950). The Saint comes to the aid of a young man falsely convicted of robbery who breaks out of prison to clear his name in "No Hiding Place" (originally aired on NBC on November 19, 1950). And the cops of Dragnet have to catch their man a second time after he escapes from custody in "The Big Break" (originally aired on NBC on December 14, 1950).

BONUS - Dollar Days: The Molly K Matter Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

Our bonus series spotlighting the serialized adventures of Johnny Dollar continues with "The Molly K Matter," a mystery that brings Dollar to San Francisco to investigate what caused the titular freighter to sink to her untimely end. Bob Bailey stars as "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" in this five-part story that aired on CBS between October 10 and October 14, 1955.

Episode 617 - All In on Adventure (Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, Nero Wolfe, & Dragnet) Mar 09, 2025

Show notes

Place your bets with these old time radio mysteries involving gamblers and the (sometimes) crooked games they play. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson find murder among the roulette tables of a French casino in "The Case of the Double Zero," starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (originally aired on Mutual on November 19, 1945). Philip Marlowe tries to find a friend's stolen IOU but stumbles across a corpse during the search in "The Promise to Pay" (originally aired on CBS on May 14, 1949), and Nero Wolfe is hired to find out who dealt a deadly hand during a poker game in "The Case of the Killer Cards" (originally aired on NBC on January 12, 1951). Finally, Sgt. Joe Friday hunts for the man who's impersonating a cop to extort money from gamblers in "The Big Shakedown" from Dragnet (originally aired on NBC on May 22, 1952).

Episode 616 - The Envelope Please… (Rex Saunders, Johnny Dollar, Bold Venture, & Sherlock Holmes) Mar 02, 2025

Show notes

It's a wonderful night for Oscar! The Academy Awards will be handed out this evening, so in celebration of Hollywood's biggest night, here are four old time radio mysteries - each starring an actor who took home a golden statuette. Edmond O'Brien (Best Supporting Actor for The Barefoot Contessa) is Johnny Dollar in "The George Farmer Matter" (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1951). Rex Harrison (Best Actor for My Fair Lady) stars as a debonair detective in "A Trip to the Death House" from The Private Files of Rex Saunders (originally aired on NBC on June 13, 1951). Humphrey Bogart (Best Actor for The African Queen) and Lauren Bacall (nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Mirror Has Two Faces) star in "Senor Rufio's Legacy of Death," a syndicated episode of Bold Venture. Finally John Gielgud (Best Supporting Actor for Arthur) and Ralph Richardson (a two-time Best Supporting Actor nominee) are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "The Golden Pince-Nez" (originally aired on NBC on April 3, 1955).

Episode 615 - Curtain Call for Crime (Sherlock Holmes, Philo Vance, The Saint, Rocky Fortune, & Johnny Dollar) Feb 23, 2025

Show notes

All the world's a stage, but as our radio detectives discover this week the theatre offers no respite from mysteries to solve. Each of our stories involves the theatre, with crimes taking place onstage, backstage, and sometimes in the aisles. First, as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce investigate when an actor takes his role as a murderer a bit too seriously in "The Case of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber" (originally aired on Mutual on January 28, 1946). Super sleuth Philo Vance is called in when an actress is threatened and her understudy is killed in the syndicated mystery "The Backstage Murder Case." The Saint tries to prevent a play's climactic murder scene from being played for real. Vincent Price stars in "Simon Takes a Curtain Call" (originally aired on NBC on January 14, 1951). Frank Sinatra has to solve a drama critic's murder - a crime that was committed during intermission of a new play - in "Murder on the Aisle" from Rocky Fortune (originally aired on NBC on November 24, 1953). Finally, Bob Bailey stars as Johnny Dollar in "The Heatherstone Players Matter" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 14, 1957), where a hated ham actor meets his maker and Johnny has to find out whodunnit.

BONUS - Dollar Days: The McCormack Matter Feb 19, 2025

Show notes

We're kicking off a new bonus series and a deep dive into arguably the best radio detective series of all time: the serialized run of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar starring Bob Bailey as "the man with the action-packed expense account." This beloved incarnation of the adventures of America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator turn 70 this year, so I'm shining a spotlight on each and every installment. In the first story, a dying prison inmate puts Dollar on the trail of some stolen loot and a secret someone will kill to keep hidden in "The McCormack Matter" (originally aired on CBS between October 3 and October 7, 1955).

Episode 614 - No Business Like Snow Business (Rogue's Gallery, Suspense, The Saint, & Sam Spade) Feb 16, 2025

Show notes

With winter weather keeping things chilly, here's a collection of old time radio mysteries set against a backdrop of snow. First, Dick Powell survives a killer's bullet but gets trapped by a blizzard in "Snowbound" from Rogue's Gallery (originally aired on Mutual on May 9, 1946). Jane Wyman is snowed in at a mountain lodge and trying to get away with her husband's murder in "Catch Me If You Can" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on February 17, 1949). Simon Templar's new case involves a snowman with a grisly secret in "It's Snow Use" from The Saint (originally aired on NBC on October 29, 1950). And finally, Sam Spade solves a murder in the snow in "The Chateau McLeod Caper" (originally aired on NBC on January 26, 1951).

Encore - Night Beat Favorites Feb 09, 2025

Show notes

Back to new episodes next week, but for now let's celebrate the anniversary of the debut of Night Beat with my five favorite episodes. The nocturnal adventures of Chicago reporter Randy Stone premiered on February 6, 1950, and here are my picks for his best stories. We'll hear the show's first episode ("Zero," originally aired on NBC on February 6, 1950), where he helps a woman track down a man before he takes his own life, and a meeting with an unusual man who claims to have a sinister super power ("I Wish You Were Dead," originally aired on May 22, 1950). Randy meets a faded college football star in trouble with the mob ("The Football Player and the Syndicate," originally aired on NBC on June 12, 1950), and he dials a random phone number to find a woman in danger ("The City at Your Fingertips," originally aired on NBC on July 31, 1950). Finally, Randy and the police hunt for a contaminated case of butter that could unleash typhoid on the Windy City ("A Case of Butter," originally aired on NBC on September 25, 1950).

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