Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

BONUS - Superman Summer: Hans Holbein's Doll Factory Aug 12, 2022

Show notes

Someone's smuggling explosives in porcelain dolls, and it's up to Superman to stop these terrible toymen and their evil schemes! The Man of Steel returns in this story that originally aired between June 24 and July 5, 1940.

Episode 498 - Writer's Block (Mystery is My Hobby, Box 13, & Night Beat) Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

Each of these old time radio detectives earned their livings as writers. They only dabbled in crimesolving on the side because it was their hobby or because real-life mysteries provided inspiration for their work. We'll hear Glenn Langan as mystery writer and police consultant Barton Drake in "The Coin Collector Mystery," a syndicated episode from Mystery is My Hobby. Then, Alan Ladd is Dan Holiday - newspaperman turned novelist and amateur adventurer - in "Hare and Hounds" from Box 13. And we'll close with Frank Lovejoy as Chicago reporter Randy Stone in "The Girl in the Park" from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on February 27, 1950).

BONUS - Superman Summer: Horace Morton's Weather Predictions Aug 05, 2022

Show notes

Lois Lane returns! Her uncle is a meterology professor with an uncanny ability to predict the weather. Lois and Clark travel to interview him and discover a gang of robbers, a murdered assistant, and a plan to destroy a mountain. It all adds up to an exciting new adventure for the Man of Steel in these episodes that originally aired between June 9 and June 21, 1940.

Episode 497 - Batter Up (Ellery Queen, Bulldog Drummond, & Boston Blackie) Jul 31, 2022

Show notes

Take me out to the ballgame for these three radio mysteries set in and around the ballpark. First, Ellery Queen's plans for a relaxing Sunday afternoon are thwarted when a movie star drops dead in "The Adventure of the Foul Tip" (AFRS rebroadcast; originally aired on NBC on June 13, 1944). Then, Bulldog Drummond tries to save a team after a pitcher dies on the mound in "Death on the Diamond" (originally aired on Mutual on September 17, 1945). Finally, Richard Kollmar investigates the shooting of a player killed sliding into second base in a syndicated adventure of Boston Blackie.

BONUS - Superman Summer: The Search for Alonzo Craig Jul 30, 2022

Show notes

A lost race, an immortal witch doctor, and a polar bear? All in a day's work for Superman! In this week's bonus show, Clark Kent travels to the Arctic to find a missing explorer and the last Daily Planet reporter sent to locate him. We'll hear the full adventure, originally aired between May 27 and June 7, 1940.

Episode 496 - Mysteries on the Midway (The Saint, Richard Diamond, & Suspense) Jul 24, 2022

Show notes

Step right up for three old time radio mysteries set at the carnival. In between the games, rides, and shows, we'll find mayhem and murder on the midway. First, Vincent Price discovers the "buried alive woman" may be in serious trouble in "The Carnival Murder" from The Saint (originally aired on NBC on February 4, 1951). Then, as Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Dick Powell is hired to protect a carnival star from a killer in "The Carnival" (originally aired on ABC on March 30, 1951). Finally, DeForest Kelley is a talent agent fascinated by a ventriloquist with a secret in "Flesh Peddler" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on August 4, 1957).

BONUS - Superman Summer: Battle in Buffalo Hills Jul 23, 2022

Show notes

Who's trying to kill a celebrated photographer, and how is he connected to a governor, a gangster, and a ceremony at the frontier monument at Buffalo Hills? It's an adventure that begins in the Daily Planet newsroom and ends with an explosion on the side of a mountain and a last minute rescue. Superman flies into action in this exciting serial that originally aired between May 13 and May 24, 1940.

Episode 495 - For Better or Worse (Mr. and Mrs. North, The Abbotts, & Murder by Experts) Jul 17, 2022

Show notes

Three crimesolving couples take the stage this week, beginning with Pam and Jerry North who find a new mystery as soon as they get home from vacation. Joseph Curtin and Alice Frost star in "Wheel of Chance" from Mr. and Mrs. North (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1953). Next, the Abbotts discover a new mystery on a voyage to London. Les Damon and Claudia Morgan play Pat and Jean in "The Dead-White Lifeboat," an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of The Adventures of the Abbotts. And finally, ex-cop turned private eye Johnny Duke and his wife Susan (aka "Duchess") have a case drop into their laps in the back of a taxi in "Two Can Die as Cheaply as One" - a story from the anthology series Murder by Experts (originally aired on Mutual on April 17, 1950).

BONUS - Superman Summer: Disaster at Bridger Field Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

Why are so many planes crashing at Bridger Field? It's a story for Clark Kent and a new adventure for the Man of Steel in this week's bonus Superman show! Kent and Jimmy Olsen are on the scene to investigate the series of disasters in these episodes that originally aired between April 29 and May 10, 1940.

Episode 494 - Let's Get Away From It All (Let George Do It, Philip Marlowe, & Barrie Craig) Jul 10, 2022

Show notes

It's summertime, but the living isn't easy for these radio detectives. All they want is a little vacation, but murder and mayhem pop up as uninvited guests and turn their getaways into cases. First, George Valentine hooks a corpse instead of a fish in "The Empress of Fish Falls" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on August 22, 1949). Then, Philip Marlowe is roped into solving a murder at a ranch in "The Dude from Manhattan" (originally aired on CBS on July 2, 1949). Finally, Barrie Craig is on a train to the mountains when he meets a beautiful woman and finds a dead body in "Death Buys a Bedroom" (originally aired on NBC on July 27, 1954).

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