Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Latest Episodes:

Episode 18 - Got the World on a String (Rocky Fortune) Aug 18, 2013

Show notes

Ol' Blue Eyes is back! Frank Sinatra stars in Rocky Fortune, as a "footloose and fancy free young gentleman" whose odd jobs always seem to lead to trouble. The Chairman of the Board headlines "Murder on the Aisle," originally broadcast on NBC on November 24, 1953.

Episode 17 - Danger is My Stock in Trade (Let George Do It) Aug 11, 2013

Show notes

Before he itemized an expense account as Johnny Dollar, Bob Bailey solved radio mysteries in Let George Do It. Freelance sleuth George Valentine finds his clients through a newspaper ad, offering to take on the jobs that are too dangerous for regular folks. We'll listen as somebody new writes him about a gig in "Cry Murder," first broadcast on Mutual on July 19, 1948.

Episode 16 - Lonesomest Mile in the World (Broadway is My Beat) Aug 04, 2013

Show notes

Detective Danny Clover patrols the Great White Way in Broadway is My Beat, one of radio's greatest police procedurals and one of the last great dramas of the Golden Age of Radio. Larry Thor is the poetic policeman in "The Case of Charles Crandall," first aired on CBS on May 12, 1951.

Episode 15 - Hot, Dry Santa Ana (Adventures of Philip Marlowe) Jul 28, 2013

Show notes

In honor of Raymond Chandler's birthday, we'll hear an episode featuring his legendary private eye, Philip Marlowe. Van Heflin stars as Marlowe in an adaptation of Chandler's short story "Red Wind," originally broadcast on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe on NBC on June 17, 1947.

Episode 14 - Up on Cloud Eight (Rogue's Gallery) Jul 21, 2013

Show notes

Before he crooned as Richard Diamond, Dick Powell cracked cases as private investigator Richard Rogue on Rogue's Gallery. We'll hear Powell in his first radio detective series with "Where There's a Will, There's a Murder," first broadcast on NBC on July 14, 1946.

Episode 13 - Yukon 2-8209 (Candy Matson) Jul 14, 2013

Show notes

We welcome our first female detective to the show - San Francisco-based private eye Candy Matson! Natalie Masters stars as this smart, sassy sleuth - perhaps the most famous lady detective in old time radio - in "The Egyptian Amulet," first broadcast on NBC on September 12, 1950.

Episode 12 - Scale-Tipping Sleuth (The Fat Man) Jul 07, 2013

Show notes

J. Scott Smart stars as Brad Runyon, aka The Fat Man - "a fast-moving criminologist who tips the scales at 237 pounds!" This original radio creation of Dashiell Hammett was one of radio's most popular shows, and Runyon is a detective who combines Nero Wolfe's brains and size with Sam Spade's fists. We'll hear "The Black Angel," first broadcast on ABC on July 8, 1946.

Episode 11 - Reckless Red-Headed Irishman (New Adventures of Michael Shayne) Jun 30, 2013

Show notes

It's off to New Orleans for an adventure of one of radio's hardest-boiled private eyes - Brett Halliday's two-fisted red-head Michael Shayne. Jeff Chandler stars in The New Adventures of Michael Shayne, and we'll hear "The Case of the Model Murder," a syndicated episode produced in 1948.

Episode 10 - Stories Start in Many Different Ways (Night Beat) Jun 23, 2013

Show notes

This week, we'll walk the streets of Chicago after dark, tagging along with Frank Lovejoy on Night Beat. Lovejoy stars as reporter Randy Stone, who searches for human interest stories in the darkness and often finds trouble. We'll hear "The Football Player and the Syndicate," first broadcast on NBC on June 12, 1950.

Episode 9 - Care of Star-Times (Box 13) Jun 16, 2013

Show notes

Alan Ladd stars as mystery writer (and amateur sleuth) Dan Holiday in Box 13. Join him as he seeks inspiration for his novels, and usually gets more than he bargained for in the process. Today, we'll hear "Speed to Burn," an episode of this syndicated series from 1948.

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