Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 295 - Fabulous Baker Street Boys (New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) Oct 21, 2018

Show notes

It didn't take a brilliant detective to bring one of fiction's greatest sleuths to radio, but it did take a talented writer and devoted fan. Edith Meiser penned the very first Sherlock Holmes radio show on October 20, 1930, and her efforts behind the scenes kept the character going for nearly twenty years on the air. We'll celebrate Holmes' anniversary with three of Meiser's original mysteries starring John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Dr. Watson: "The Case of the Missing Heiress" (originally aired on Mutual on October 5, 1947); "The Case of the Lucky Shilling" (originally aired on Mutual on January 18, 1948); and "The Case of the Accommodating Valise" (originally aired on Mutual on May 23, 1948).

Episode 294 - Their Girl Friday: Jan Miner (Boston Blackie, CBS Radio Workshop, & Casey, Crime Photographer) Oct 14, 2018

Show notes

Before she became a commercial star as "Madge" for Palmolive, actress Jan Miner was busy working on the stage and the radio. Miner was heard regularly on soap operas, dramas, and radio detective shows. We'll hear her as Mary Wesley in the syndicated episode "Alibi Time" from Boston Blackie and as Ann Williams in "King of the Apes" from Casey, Crime Photographer (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1947). Plus, we'll hear Jan Miner in a behind-the-scenes look at radio production from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1956).

Episode 293 - Fortune Favors the Bold (Rocky Fortune) Oct 07, 2018

Show notes

The Chairman of the Board fights crime as Frank Sinatra stars in Rocky Fortune. The singer played Fortune - a man whose odd jobs always led to trouble - for a single season in a fun, well-produced mystery series. To celebrate the sixty-fifth anniversary of the show's debut, we'll hear a pair of Rocky's adventures - the show's first episode (originally aired on NBC on October 6, 1953) and "The Museum Murder" (originally aired on NBC on January 11, 1954).

Episode 292 - Craig's List (Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator) Sep 30, 2018

Show notes

William Gargan is on the case as Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator - the sardonic gumshoe with a healthy sense of humor to go along with his powers of deduction. We'll hear "Murder Masquerade" (originally aired on NBC on August 9, 1953) and "Hay is for Homicide" (originally aired on NBC on August 31, 1954).

Episode 291 - Get Out of Dodge (Gunsmoke) Sep 23, 2018

Show notes

In celebration of what would have been his 98th birthday, we're tipping our hat to William Conrad. Before he was the narrator of The Fugitive and Rocky and Bullwinkle and before he solved TV crimes as Cannon, Conrad was one of the biggest talents of the golden age of radio. He had thousands of credits to his name but he was best known as Matt Dillon, US Marshal, on Gunsmoke. We'll hear him in a pair of murder mysteries from the old west (originally aired on CBS on May 9 and November 21, 1953).

Episode 290 - You Can't Con a Conway (Sherlock Holmes & The Saint) Sep 16, 2018

Show notes

With his polished radio presence and his mellifluous British accent, Tom Conway was a natural as a radio detective, and he put his voice to great use as both Sherlock Holmes and Simon Templar. We'll hear him as Holmes - with Nigel Bruce as Watson - in "The Adventure of the Original Hamlet" (originally aired on ABC on November 2, 1946). Then as The Saint, he stars in "The Girl with the Lower Berth" (originally aired on NBC on June 3, 1951).

Episode 289 - Let's All Go to the Lobby (Screen Directors Playhouse) Sep 09, 2018

Show notes

In the film noir classic D.O.A., the detective is also the victim of the crime. Edmond O'Brien, one of radio's Johnny Dollars, recreates his big screen role as Frank Bigelow, a man with only days left to live who is frantically searching for the man who murdered him, in this adaptation from the Screen Directors Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on June 21, 1951).

Episode 288 - You Can Call Me Al (Box 13 & Lux Radio Theatre) Sep 02, 2018

Show notes

Alan Ladd didn't just star in mysteries and thrillers on the big screen - audiences could also hear Ladd on their radios in tales of daring detectives and heroes. We'll hear him in "Double Right Cross," an episode of his syndicated series Box 13 where he starred as reporter turned mystery writer and amateur sleuth Dan Holiday. Then he's joined by Veronica Lake in a radio recreation of his wartime action adventure O.S.S. from the Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on November 18, 1946).

Episode 287 - Their Girl Friday: Lesley Woods (Boston Blackie & Casey, Crime Photographer) Aug 26, 2018

Show notes

From the Broadway stage to the world of daytime soap operas, Lesley Woods found success in every medium she tried during her six decade career. She was very busy on radio, appearing on soaps, sci-fi shows, thrillers, and detective programs. We'll hear her opposite Richard Kollmar in Boston Blackie as Blackie's girlfriend Mary Wesley in "The Wentworth Diamonds." And she's reporter Ann Williams alongside Staats Cotsworth's Casey, Crime Photographer in "The Twenty Minute Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1947).

Episode 286 - Blind Man's Bluff (Murder Clinic & Suspense) Aug 19, 2018

Show notes

Crooks made the mistake of underestimating private detectives Max Carrados and Captain Duncan Maclain because both men were blind. After you hear their radio adventures, you'll know that a lack of sight doesn't stand in the way of these gentlemen as they solve seemingly impossible murders. Ernest Bramah's gentlemanly Carrados (voiced by Alfred Shirley) stars in "The Holloway Flat Tragedy" from Murder Clinic (originally aired on Mutual on August 18, 1942). Then, Baynard Kendrick's Maclain (played here by Brian Donlevy) is heard in "Out of Control" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on August 23, 1946).

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