Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 265 - You've Got Mail (Let George Do It & Box 13) Feb 04, 2018

Show notes

Our old time radio detectives this week drummed up business with newspaper ads - catchy sales pitches that invited potential clients to write in with requests for help. We'll hear Bob Bailey inviting those in need to Let George Do It in "The Father Who Had Nothing to Say" (originally aired on Mutual on September 13, 1948). Then, Alan Ladd opens another letter addressed to Box 13 in the syndicated mystery "The Haunted Artist."

Episode 264 - Lyon-Hearted Hero (Jeff Regan, Investigator) Jan 28, 2018

Show notes

If you're in trouble and you can come up with ten dollars a day and expenses, you can get help from Jeff Regan, Investigator. The hard-boiled gumshoe worked for the penny-pinching Anthony J. Lyon and never failed to find dangerous dames and double-crosses as he hustled for that ten a day. We'll hear Jack Webb as Regan in "The Too Many Mrs. Rogers" (originally aired on CBS on October 9, 1948). Then, Frank Graham is the detective in "The Two Little Sisters" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1949).

Episode 263 - Deduction Down Under (The Fat Man) Jan 21, 2018

Show notes

Though it was one of radio's most popular shows, The Fat Man left the airwaves in 1951 - a victim of the same anti-Communist hysteria that jailed its creator Dashiell Hammett. But in 1954, an Australian radio series, using scripts from the American show, was launched and its surviving shows give us a chance to hear more from this XXL private eye. We'll hear Lloyd Berrell starring in "Murder and the Peacock" and "Murder Shows a Phantom Face."

Episode 262 - The Doctor is In (Danger, Dr. Danfield & Sam Spade) Jan 14, 2018

Show notes

To old time radio fans, Steve Dunne is best known for his single season as Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade. Dunne stepped into the private eye's shoes when the program was resurrected following a cancellation, and he remained in the role until Sam closed up shop for good in 1951. We'll hear Dunne in his very first Spade adventure (originally aired on NBC on November 17, 1950) as well as "The Crab Louie Caper" (originally aired on NBC on January 12, 1951). Plus, we'll hear Dunne as a crimesolving psychologist in Danger, Dr. Danfield in an episode originally aired on ABC on November 17, 1946.

Episode 261 - The First Five Matter (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar) Jan 07, 2018

Show notes

On October 3, 1955, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar returned to CBS after a year-long hiatus. The adventures of "the man with the action-packed expense account" were revamped into a serial, with a complete adventure playing out each weeknight. Bob Bailey stepped into the shoes of "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator," and it was a perfect marriage of actor and character. We'll hear that very first five-part mystery - "The McCormack Matter" (originally aired on CBS between October 3 and October 7, 1955).

Episode 260 - Detect the Halls (Candy Matson, Richard Diamond, Johnny Dollar, & Broadway is My Beat) Dec 20, 2017

Show notes

Haul out the holly - it's time for the "Down These Mean Streets" holiday special. We're wrapping up 2017 with Christmas capers from four old time radio sleuths. First, Natalie Masters is Candy Matson, the gorgeous girl detective of San Francisco, in "Jack Frost" (originally aired on NBC on December 10, 1949). Next, Dick Powell and his Richard Diamond cast of characters present their version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (originally aired on NBC on December 24, 1949). Then, Bob Bailey files a holiday expense account as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: "The Missing Mouse Matter" (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1956). Finally, we head to the Big Apple for Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover in "Santa Takes a Powder" from Broadway is My Beat (originally aired on CBS on December 24, 1949).

Episode 259 - Blues in the Night (Pete Kelly's Blues) Dec 17, 2017

Show notes

Head down to 417 Cherry Street for a drink and a set from Pete Kelly and his jazz band. Jack Webb combines his love of jazz and his unique style of radio crime drama in Pete Kelly's Blues, a short-lived series from the summer of 1951. The show featured great tunes and downbeat stories of the Prohibition era, and it inspired a 1955 feature film. We'll hear a pair of episodes - "The Veda Brand Story" (originally aired on NBC on July 11, 1951) and "Dr. Jonathan Budd and the Dutchman" (originally aired on NBC on September 12, 1951).

Episode 258 - Double Date for Danger (Mr. and Mrs. North & The Abbotts) Dec 10, 2017

Show notes

Two of old time radio's crime solving couples are on hand to mix marriage and mayhem in a pair of mysteries. First, Richard Denning and Barbara Britton are amateur sleuths Mr. and Mrs. North in "Too Late to Die" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of a show originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1953). Then, Mandel Kramer is private eye Pat Abbott and Claudia Morgan is his wife Jean in "The Gentleman in the Nile Green Suit" from The Adventures of the Abbotts (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of a show originally aired on NBC on May 29, 1955).

Episode 257 – Meet the Press (Casey, Crime Photographer, Big Town, & Night Beat) Dec 03, 2017

Show notes

We're running a special edition to salute the radio crime fighters of the Fourth Estate – three newsmen who used the power of the press to solve crimes and keep their cities free of corruption. First, Staats Cotsworth is Casey, Crime Photographer in "The Blonde's Lipstick" (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1947). Then, editor Steve Wilson and reporter Lorelei Kilbourne fight the rackets of Big Town. Edward Pawley and Fran Carlon star in "The Final Payment" (originally aired on NBC on September 21, 1948). Finally, Frank Lovejoy is Chicago reporter Randy Stone in "Byline for Frank" from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on June 29, 1951).

Episode 256 - Hard-Boiled Howard (Sam Spade & Burns and Allen) Nov 26, 2017

Show notes

We tip our fedora to Howard Duff in honor of the star's November 24th birthday. To celebrate, we'll hear him in his signature role as Dashiell Hammett's famous private detective Sam Spade. With his wry humor and unique take on the material, Duff as Spade gave us one of the best gumshoes of the era. We'll hear him in two episodes of The Adventures of Sam Spade: "The Bow Window Caper" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1947) and "The Stopped Watch Caper" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1949). Finally, Sam gets his craziest caper ever when he meets Gracie Allen in a comedy episode from February 10, 1949.

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