Nostalgic Mystery Radio

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Ep.142 The Crime Club: Murder Rents A Room Jan 05, 2022

Show notes

The Crime Club aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System as a half-hour weekly radio series, beginning on December 2, 1946 and continuing until October 16, 1947, a run of 47 episodes. It aired on Mondays at 8 p.m. through December and then on Thursdays at 10 p.m. It was also heard on Wednesdays and Sundays on some stations.
Each installment was introduced by the series host, The Librarian, portrayed by Barry Thomson and Raymond Edward Johnson (who was perhaps better known as the host of Inner Sanctum Mysteries). The series featured murder and mystery dramas, some of which had already been published by the Doubleday Crime Club. A new Crime Club book was made available to the public each week and distributed though local newsstands and bookstores.
Murder Rents A Room: A rich man "dies" but most of his money is missing. The man's ne'er-do-well nephew is suspect. Originally aired June 5th, 1947.

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Ep.141 Father Brown: The Dagger With Wings Jan 03, 2022

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 Dagger With Wings: A wealthy landowner in the West Country confesses to Father Brown that his adopted son has coerced him into dabbling into occultism in order to extend his life.

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Ep.140 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe: The Old Acquaintance Dec 29, 2021

Show notes

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 Old Acquaintance: A good action story about an escaped convict and the two women in his life. Originally aired December 26th,1948.

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Ep.139 Dragnet: The Big Will Dec 29, 2021

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 Will: Charles Stall has been shot. Tire tracks lead to a motel and to a drunk Texan and his car. Originally aired June 7th,1953.

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Ep.138 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Demon Barber Dec 27, 2021

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.
The Case of the Demon Barber: Holmes and Watson try to keep an actor who is portraying a fiendish killer, from being driven crazy. Originally aired January 28th,1946.

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Ep.137 Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: Hercule Poirot's Christmas Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

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.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas: When the obnoxious multi-millionaire Simeon Lee unexpectedly invites his family to gather at his home for Christmas, the gesture is met with displeasure by many of the guests. The patriarch also sends for Hercule Poirot, as he feels the reunion might prove perillous. This is indeed the case, as one day, he is found with his throat slashed in the middle of his ransacked study. Originally aired December 25th, 1994.

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Ep.136 Broadway Is My Beat: Nick Norman and Santa Claus Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through in his passion and dedication to his job. He tirelessly patrolled the city streets and instilled fear into the hoodlums and villains that threatened the peace. Remarkably enough, the program enjoyed a lengthy run from 1949-1954, unlike its other contemporaries who only lasted for a season.
Nick Norman and Santa Claus: Nick Norman is just out of Sing Sing after fifteen years and is scheduled to play Santa Claus for the PAL. The day before the big day, Santa takes a powder, while a miserly landlord demands his rent. Originally aired December 24th, 1949.

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Ep.135 Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

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.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A woman is found dead shortly after confessing to her friend that she is being blackmailed. The police concluded it was suicide, but the case takes a much darker turn when that same friend is found murdered in his own study.

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Ep.134 Father Brown: The Three Tools of Death Dec 20, 2021

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 Three Tools of Death: When a troubled young woman's father is killed just weeks after her mother's death, Father Brown must help her deal with her grief, while solving the father's inexplicable murder by one of three weapons. Originally aired July 22nd, 1945.

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Ep.133 Broadway Is My Beat: The Henry Baker Murder Case Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through in his passion and dedication to his job. He tirelessly patrolled the city streets and instilled fear into the hoodlums and villains that threatened the peace. Remarkably enough, the program enjoyed a lengthy run from 1949-1954, unlike its other contemporaries who only lasted for a season.
The Henry Baker Murder Case: A nice guy named Henry Baker is trying to give away $50,000 while his brother is trying to stop him. Originally aired December 17th,1949.

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