Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 188 - Bye-bye, Black Bird (Lux Radio Theatre) Sep 18, 2016

Show notes

John Huston's classic cinematic adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon comes to radio in this production of The Lux Radio Theatre. Though none of the film's stars appear to recreate their roles, a terrific Hollywood cast is assembled to bring the story to life. Laird Cregar is the Fat Man, Gail Patrick is Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and Edward G. Robinson is Sam Spade – with Cecil B. DeMille as master of ceremonies – in this episode originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1943.

Episode 187 - Edmond's Expenses (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar) Sep 11, 2016

Show notes

Edmond O'Brien puts the "action" in the "action-packed expense account" of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. The Academy Award-winning actor starred as the freelance insurance investigator from 1950 until 1952. O'Brien's tough style – honed in film noir performances – brought a hard edge to Dollar, a character that had been decidedly lighter in the hands of Charles Russell. His run as Johnny Dollar has cemented Edmond O'Brien as a fan favorite of the many actors to play the gumshoe. We'll hear O'Brien as Dollar in "The Caligio Diamond Matter" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1950) and "The Calgary Matter" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1950).

Episode 186 - Candy's Land (Candy Matson) Sep 04, 2016

Show notes

Looking for mystery? Just dial YUkon 2-8209 and ask for Candy Matson. The gorgeous San Francisco private eye works out of her Telegraph Hill apartment and finds more than her share of trouble in the city of the Golden Gate. Natalie Masters stars as Candy in "The Cable Car Case" (originally aired on NBC on July 7, 1949) and "The Movie Company" originally aired on NBC on August 29, 1950).

Episode 185 - Mail Call (Box 13) Aug 28, 2016

Show notes

Alan Ladd is Dan Holiday, the mystery writer who plays detective to get story material, in Box 13. The syndicated series found Holiday soliciting danger with an ad offering himself as an adventurer for hire – one who would "go anywhere, do anything." Answering those letters addressed to Box 13 meant Holiday could be volunteering to put a target on his back or to solve an impossible crime. We'll hear Ladd in "Much Too Lucky" and "The Perfect Crime."

Episode 184 - Gallery Tour (Rogue's Gallery) Aug 21, 2016

Show notes

After Dick Powell bid farewell to the role of gumshoe Richard Rogue, Barry Sullivan stepped in to fill the detective's shoes. The big screen star played the rakish private eye in a 1947 summer run of Rogue's Gallery and acquitted himself quite well in the lead role. We'll hear Sullivan as Rogue in "Phyllis Adrian is Missing," originally aired on NBC on June 29, 1947.

Episode 183 - Honor Among Thieves (Boston Blackie) Aug 14, 2016

Show notes

Master jewel thief turned ace detective, the infamous Boston Blackie is an "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend." Much to the chagrin of Inspector Faraday, Blackie puts his criminal mind to work for the good guys, nabbing crooks, cons, and thieves with the same sleight of hand and crafty calculations that served him on the wrong side of the law. We'll hear Chester Morris recreate his big screen role of Blackie in "Black Market Blackie," originally aired on NBC on July 21, 1944. Then, Richard Kollmar takes over in the syndicated episode "The Undersea Murder."

Episode 182 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Academy Award) Aug 10, 2016

Show notes

For our annual birthday salute to Alfred Hitchcock, we'll hear one of the master of suspense's classic films recreated for radio - Foreign Correspondent, the 1940 spy thriller starring Joel McCrea and Herbert Marshall. The film was dramatized for Academy Award, with Joseph Cotten stepping in for McCrea in an episode that originally aired on CBS on July 24, 1946.

Episode 181 - Wild About Harry (Lives of Harry Lime) Aug 07, 2016

Show notes

Cue the zither music! Orson Welles is back as Harry Lime, the lovable rogue from The Third Man, in The Lives of Harry Lime. This prequel series follows Lime around the world as he tries to lie, cheat, and steal his way to an easy buck and to stay a step ahead of the police and rival criminals. In the process, he becomes one of radio's most unlikely heroes in this series of international adventures. We'll hear "Clay Pigeon" and "Man of Mystery" from the syndicated program.

Episode 180 - A Shot in the Dark (The Line-Up & Richard Diamond) Jul 31, 2016

Show notes

Before he gave the world Peter Gunn and Inspector Clouseau, Blake Edwards cut his teeth as a radio writer, penning mysteries for some of the best detectives of the era. Edwards created Richard Diamond, Private Detective and his writing set the tone for radio's singing gumshoe. Equally adept at comedy and drama, Edwards also wrote stories for more serious police procedurals, including The Line-Up. In honor of his birthday, we'll hear some of his radio work. First, it's "The Candy Store Murder" from The Line-Up (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950). Then, it's "To Guard a Seal," from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on February 5, 1950).

Episode 179 - Famous Ray's (Philip Marlowe & Suspense) Jul 24, 2016

Show notes

When it comes to hard-boiled crime fiction, fewer did wrote it better than Raymond Chandler. One of the titans of the genre, Chandler penned dozens of pulp stories before he introduced his signature character of private eye Philip Marlowe. We'll hear a pair of Marlowe's radio adventures starring Gerald Mohr – "The Baton Sinister" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1949) and "The Long Way Home" (originally aired on CBS on August 4, 1951). Then we'll hear "Pearls are a Nuisance," an adaptation of a Chandler short story and originally aired on Suspense (originally aired on CBS on April 19, 1945).

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