Nostalgic Mystery Radio

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Ep.72 The Adventures of Sam Spade: The Sugar Kane Caper Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

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 Sugar Kane Caper: The beautiful Sugar Kane is about to marry into the wealthy Cavanaugh family. Originally aired October 3rd, 1948.

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Ep.71 Secrets of Scotland Yard: Jim the Penman Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

The Secrets of Scotland Yard was a successful crime drama series, initially airing internationally between 1949 and 1951. Selected episodes finally came to a US radio network for a brief run much later in 1957 over the Mutual Broadcasting System. The series boasted well over 100 episodes.
The Secrets of Scotland Yard was an independent production of the Towers of London syndicate in England for world wide distribution. Each week, an audience of anxious radio-listeners tuned in to hear these true crime stories of the London Metropolitan Police unfold, as the detectives at the Yard investigated some of England’s most famous criminals.
Jim the Penman one the most notorious forgers of all time.

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Ep.70 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Murder in the Moonlight Sep 03, 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.
Murder in the Moonlight: Sherlock Homes and Doc Watson go undercover. While aboard a ship bound for India, try to protect royalty from assassination. Originally aired October 29th, 1945.

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Ep.69 Tales of the Texas Rangers: Dead or Alive Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.
Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.
Dead or Alive: The Texas City/Galveston disaster is the backdrop for a plan to have a wanted man switch identities with an unidentified corpse. Originally aired September 9th, 1950.

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Ep.68 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe: The Pigeon's Blood Aug 30, 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 Pigeon's Blood: Thirty rubies worth $150,000 go missing, but murder isn't.
Originally aired June 11th,1949.

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Ep.67 The Secrets of Scotland Yard: The Great Gold Robbery Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

The Secrets of Scotland Yard was a successful crime drama series, initially airing internationally between 1949 and 1951. Selected episodes finally came to a US radio network for a brief run much later in 1957 over the Mutual Broadcasting System. The series boasted well over 100 episodes.
The Secrets of Scotland Yard was an independent production of the Towers of London syndicate in England for world wide distribution. Each week, an audience of anxious radio-listeners tuned in to hear these true crime stories of the London Metropolitan Police unfold, as the detectives at the Yard investigated some of England’s most famous criminals.
The Great Gold Robbery: A routine shipment of three boxes of gold was stolen and cleverly replaced with lead.

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Ep.66 Dragnet: The Big Watch Aug 26, 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 Watch: A gang of "Hitch-Hike Bandits" are assaulting and killing soldiers.
Originally aired April 13th, 1950.

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Ep.65 The Adventures of Sam Spade: The Tears of Night Caper Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

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 Tears of Night Caper: A fabulously expensive necklace and several Latin quotes add up to a recipe for trouble for Spade. Originally aired July 24th, 1949.

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Ep.64 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Out of Date Murder Aug 24, 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 Out of Date Murder: Holmes and Watson find a body that at first appears to answer the mystery of a disappearance more than a century before. However, Holmes suspects the corpse is of more recent vintage. Originally aired September 17, 1945.

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Ep.63 Father Brown: The Honour of Israel Gow Aug 20, 2021

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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 Honour of Israel Gow: Flambeau, now a private detective, and Father Brown are at Glengyle Castle in Scotland, helping Inspector Craven of Scotland Yard to investigate the peculiar death and burial of the late Israel Gow.

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