Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

BONUS - Remembering Anne Whitfield Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

In this bonus episode, we're saluting the late Anne Whitfield, who passed away on February 15th. We'll hear the actress in a pair of episodes from The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, where she played the couple's youngest daughter Phyllis. First, little Phyllis may become a movie star (originally aired on NBC on November 20, 1949) and then she celebrates her birthday (originally aired on NBC on January 21, 1951).

Episode 571 - Space Cases (Man Called X, Philo Vance, & Rocky Fortune) Mar 03, 2024

Show notes

We're blasting off this week for a trio of mysteries involving rockets and space. First, The Man Called X is in New Mexico to find out who's leaking classified information from a missile test site (originally aired on NBC on April 14, 1951). Next, Philo Vance investigates a murder in an observatory in the syndicated episode "The Star-Studded Murder Case." And finally, Frank Sinatra is hired to take a one-way trip to the moon in "Rocket Racket" from Rocky Fortune (originally aired on NBC on March 23, 1954).

BONUS - Five Favorites: Auditions Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

In this bonus episode, we're going back to the beginning with the audition recordings for five old time radio detective shows - some that became regular series, some that didn't, and some that changed stars along the way. We'll hear Victor Jory as a Scotland Yard inspector in the tryout for The Hunters (recorded in November 1948) and Dick Powell - before he was Richard Diamond - as Johnny Dollar in that show's audition (recorded in December 1948). Bill Johnstone stars as Lt. Ben Guthrie in Police Line-Up, the audition for what became The Line-Up (recorded in May 1950) and Mercedes McCambridge heads to court in The Defense Rests, which premiered later as Defense Attorney (recorded in April 1951). Finally, Howard Duff - radio's Sam Spade - dons the fedora of private eye Mike McCoy in the audition for The McCoy (recorded in April 1951).

Episode 570 - Mystery on the Menu (Boston Blackie, Box 13, Richard Diamond, & Johnny Dollar) Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

Hope you brought your appetite - this week's show features four mysteries set in the world of food. From restaurants to the grocery store, our detectives have a lot to chew on in these cases. First, Boston Blackie investigates a murder in a Chinese restaurant and Dan Holiday comes to the aid of a beleaguered restauranteur in "Tempest in a Casserole" from Box 13. Dick Powell goes undercover in a butcher's shop in Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on January 7, 1950) and Johnny Dollar gets a deadly dinner invitation in "The Fatal Filet Matter" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1950).

Episode 569 - Where the Money Is (This is Your FBI, The Whistler, & Dragnet) Feb 18, 2024

Show notes

We're making some large withdrawals at the bank this week with three old time radio tales of bank robbers and the cops who try to catch them. First, the G-Men are at work in "Quartet for Crime" from This is Your FBI (originally aired on ABC on November 24, 1950). Then, a man fresh out of prison signs on for a bank heist in "The Little Things" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on January 14, 1951). And finally, Sgt. Joe Friday is on the trail of a bank robber in "The Big Number" from Dragnet (originally aired on NBC on October 26, 1952).

BONUS - Love is On the Air Feb 14, 2024

Show notes

Happy Valentine's Day! No matter how - or if - you're celebrating this February 14th, hopefully you'll enjoy this quartet of Valentine's comedies from the golden age of radio. We'll hear Fibber McGee and Molly (originally aired on NBC on February 10, 1942), My Favorite Husband (originally aired on CBS on February 11, 1949), The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show (originally aired on NBC on February 13, 1949), and Our Miss Brooks (originally aired on CBS on February 19, 1950).

BONUS - Five Favorites: Night Beat Feb 12, 2024

Show notes

In this bonus episode, we're walking the Night Beat with reporter Randy Stone in my five favorite episodes of this fantastic radio drama series. Frank Lovejoy stars as Stone, always looking for stories for his newspaper column and always ready to help people in need. 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).

Episode 568 - My Felonious Valentine (Philip Morris Playhouse, Tales of the Texas Rangers, & Crime Classics) Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

Love is in the air, but in these old time radio mysteries romance leads to violence. First, Marlene Dietrich's boyfriend takes the rap for a murder she committed in "The Lady from the Sea" from The Philip Morris Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on March 11, 1949). Next, as Ranger Jayce Pearson, Joel McCrea hunts an armed robber who targets couples in Lover's Lane in "Nighthawk" (originally aired on NBC on March 30, 1952). Finally, we'll head back to England in 1684 for "John & Judith - Their Crime, and Why They Didn't Get to Enjoy It," a true story of love and murder from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1953).

Episode 567 - Mouse House of Mystery (The Whistler, Sam Spade, & Philip Marlowe) Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

Old time radio fans will recognize some of their favorite performers' voices popping up in classic Disney films, and today we'll hear three of those stars in radio mysteries. Before she was Cruella de Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Betty Lou Gerson was a faded movie star who plans to marry into money in "The Girl Next Door" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on August 20, 1947). And years before he menaced Peter Pan as Captain Hook, Hans Conried played Sam Spade's client - a butler whose employers have a house full of secrets - in "The Bouncing Betty Caper" (an AFRS rebroadcast from December 12, 1948). Finally, you can still hear Paul Frees as the "Ghost Host" of the Haunted Mansion, and we'll also enjoy his performance as an eccentric poet in "The Cloak of Kamehameha" from The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (originally aired on CBS on April 23, 1949).

BONUS - Five Favorites: Casey, Crime Photographer Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Extra, extra! It's an above the fold bonus podcast where I share my favorite episodes of Casey, Crime Photographer. Casey chases crooks and a great picture for the front page of his paper in these five radio mysteries. First, it's a case of mistaken and identity and murder in "The Red Raincoat" (originally aired on CBS on August 29, 1946) and a killer on the loose in "Death in Lover's Lane" (originally aired on CBS on August 7, 1947). A criminal spares a woman's life and wins her heart in "The Chivalrous Gunman" (originally aired on CBS on August 14, 1947) and Casey meets an aspiring crime photographer in "The Camera Bug" (originally aired on CBS on October 16, 1947). Finally, Casey tries to clear a woman of fraud charges in "The Blonde's Lipstick" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1947).

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