Nostalgic Mystery Radio

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Ep.399 The Adventures Of Sam Spade: The Maltese Falcon May 09, 2023

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The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff (in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie. It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon. The show ran from 1946 to 1951. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.
The Maltese Falcon: Sleuth Sam Spade is drawn into a statuette riddle after his partner is murdered in 1928 San Francisco. Originally aired on BBC December 1984

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Ep.398 The Adventures Of The Falcon: The Case Of The Disappearing Doll May 08, 2023

Show notes

The Adventures Of The Falcon: This hard boiled spy drama began as an RKO Radio Pictures theatrical serial in the 1940s, went on radio in 1943, and then came to TV around ten years later in a Syndicated series produced for distribution by NBC Films; the series was about an American agent whose code name was "Falcon".
The success of the films led to a radio series that premiered on the American Blue Network in April 1943, and aired for the next ten years on various networks. It was here that his transition into a private eye was finalized, with The Falcon, now called Michael Waring working as a hardboiled insurance investigator, with an office and a secretary, Nancy.
The Case Of The Disappearing Doll: After three guys rob an $80,000 payroll, they're double-crossed by their moll. Originally aired August 30th,1950.

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Ep.397 Father Brown: The Curse Of The Golden Cross May 05, 2023

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Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?
Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuition based on his familiarity on men’s souls.
The Curse of the Golden Cross: What do a gambler, an English lady, a steward, a vicar and a professor have in common?

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Ep.396 Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: Cards On The Table May 03, 2023

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Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.
Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.
Cards On The Table: A perverse eccentric's idea of amusement goes horribly wrong when a murderer strikes during a game of bridge.

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Ep.395 The Adventures Of Philp Marlowe: The Hairpin Turn May 01, 2023

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Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.
Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.
The Hairpin Turn: Marlowe meets a female sharpshooter it only adds up that she is somehow connected to a dead body - a body shot with a target pistol.
Originally aired January 28th,1950.

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Ep.394 Philo Vance: The Vanilla Murder Case Apr 28, 2023

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Philo Vance is the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series.
The Vanilla Murder Case: A soda jerk is killed with a syrup pump!
Originally aired December 21st,1948.

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Ep.393 Dragnet: The Big Make Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).
Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".
Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years.
The Big Make: Thomas Stanford confesses to robbing a store, but Sgt. Friday proves that he was at work at the time of the robbery!
Originally aired May 17th, 1953.

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Ep.392 Father Brown: The Mirror Of The Magistrate Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?
Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuition based on his familiarity on men’s souls.
The Mirror of the Magistrate: After a conservative judge is found shot to death in his garden, Father Brown sets out to prove that the outspoken socialist arrested for his murder is innocent.

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Ep.391 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Story Of The Big Red Schoolhouse Apr 21, 2023

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Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
For over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".
The Story Of The Big Red Schoolhouse: A school burns in Nebraska, due to inflammable corruption. Originally aired April 4th,1950.

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Ep.390 The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes: April Fool's Adventure Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.
From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on cinema and radio.
April Fool's Adventure: Watson joins in an April Fools prank on Sherlock Holmes. Originally aired April 1st, 1946

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