
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio
2,173 episodes — Page 33 of 44
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee One - Let George Do It "The Tears Of Sorrow" (3-27-50)
Bob Bailey played George Valentine as a detective handy man, who got his jobs from responses to a newspaper ad. Part-time detective and writer Dan Holiday in Box 13 also used the premise. It pays to advertise! The shows follow the usual formats of crime caper shows, with toughs, mysterious rendezvous and people who aren't who they say they are. Network was Mutual, Sponson was Standard Oil. STARS:Bob Bailey,Eddie Firestone jr, Francis Robinson, Joe Kearn PRODUCER:Owen Vinson WRITER: Polly Hopkins MUSIC: Eddie DunstedterTHIS EPISODE:March 27, 1950. Mutual-Don Lee Network. "The Tears Of Sorrow". Sponsored by: Standard Oil. A motel/restaurant in the desert is run by an angry cook and his wife, who has a wandering eye. A traveling salesman and a corpse in a silver coffin named Charley George Washington add to the fun. Bob Bailey, Virginia Gregg, Don Clark (director), Eddie Dunstedter (composer, presenter), Bud Hiestand (announcer), David Victor (writer), Jackson Gillis (writer), Alan Reed, Louise Arthur, Lawrence Dobkin, Walter Burke, Bill Bouchey. 29:37.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Quiet Please "The Room Where Ghosts Lived" (1-12-48)
FIRST BROADCAST: June 8th 1947 LAST BROADCAST: June 25th 1949 NARRATORS: Ernest Chappell, Jim Boles, Cathleen Cordell, Dan Sutter, Cecil Roy, Bruno Wick, Peggy Stanley, Claudia Morgan PRODUCER/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Wyllis Cooper SOUND EFFECTS: Bill McClintock THEME: Second Movement of Franckâs Symphony in D Minor MUSIC: Albert Berman Quiet Please â 1947-1949 Wyllis Cooper, the creator of Lights Out, wrote and directed this thriller series. The program was similar but not so graphic and the sound effects not quite so disturbing. These were not tales of people living happily ever after. Ernest Chappell told the tales and each week he played some âordinary fellow who gets all bollixed up with the supernatural.âTHIS EPISODE:January 12, 1948. Mutual network. "The Room Where The Ghosts Lived". Sustaining. A dying man tells a ghost story to his doctor. He tells how he released the spirit of a woman dead one hundred and seventy five years, from a secret room in his house. Albert April (sound effects), Claudia Morgan, Ernest Chappell, James Van Dyke, Wyllis Cooper (writer, director). 24:34.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod -The Shadow "Out Of This World" (1-21-45)
One of the most popular radio shows in history debuted in August 1930 when "The Shadow" went on the air. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The opening lines of the "Detective Story" program captivated listeners and are instantly recognizable even today. Originally the narrator of the series of macabre tales, the eerie voice known as The Shadow became so popular to listeners that "Detective Story" was soon renamed "The Shadow," and the narrator became the star of the old-time mystery radio series, which ran until 1954. A figure never seen, only heard, the Shadow was an invincible crime fighter. He possessed many gifts which enabled him to overcome any enemy. Besides his tremendous strength, he could defy gravity, speak any language, unravel any code, and become invisible with his famous ability to "cloud men's minds."
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Westinghouse Playhouse "The Untouchables" (The Scarface Mob 4-20-59)
This show was based on the life of real treasury dept. gangbuster Eliot Ness, who had in fact played an important part in stopping the power of the notorious Al Capone in 1931 Chicago. The Ness autobiography served as the basis of a two-part semidocumentary dramatization of the Capone affair, presented on a 1959 Desilu Playhouse. It was a huge hit that turned into a regular series the next fall. It followed Ness and his small band of incorruptible agents (called the "Untouchables" by a Chicago newspaper) as they battled the worst people in organized crime. (Ness had in real life disbanded the Untouchables after cracking the Capone case, and had nothing to do with most of the cases dramatized on TV.) The Untouchables went after hoods like Bugs Moran, in whose garage the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Perry Mason "The Case Of The Runaway Corpse" (11-23-57)
Perry Mason is the longest running lawyer show in American television history. Its original run lasted nine years and its success in both syndication and made-for-television movies confirm its impressive stamina. Mason's fans include lawyers and judges who were influenced by this series to enter their profession. The Mason character was created by mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner and delivered his first brief in the novel The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933). From 1934 to 1937 Warners produced six films featuring Mason. A radio series also based on Mason ran every weekday afternoon on CBS radio from 1944 to 1955 as a detective/soap opera. When the CBS television series was developed as an evening drama, the radio series was changed from Perry Mason to The Edge of Night and the cast renamed so as not to compete against the television series.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Beyond Midnight "Let Me See Your Face" (1950)
Let us journey âinto the land that lies beyond midnight,â into a world of ghost hunters, men going mad, and DEATH DEATH DEATH! Written by the masterful Michael McCabe, these well-done South African radio shows will capture your attention and keep you up listening to them well beyond midnight. Date UnknownA replacement series for SF 68, this South African horror anthology was far more successful than its predecessor. Its success may have been due in part to producer Michael McCabe - who also produced SF 68 - honing his talents to a higher degree. Little else is known about it, including the number of shows produced. As far as I can discover, there were at least 43 episodes, all in half-hour format.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Richard Diamond Private Detective "Mona Lisa Murder" (11-15-59)
Richard Diamond, Private Detective was a radio show starring Dick Powell which aired from 1949 to 1953, first on NBC, then ABC and finally on CBS. The title character was a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his girlfriend, Helen. The television series was produced by Powell's company, Four Star Television, and that series ran for 3 years from 1957 to 1960. On TV, David Janssen played the hard boiled private eye and his secretary renamed âSamâ, was only ever shown on camera from the waist down, most assurardidly to display her beautiful legs. It was later leared that the legs belonged to Mary Tyler Moore. Original music by Frank DeVol and pete rugolo and later by richard shores. Good scripts, a solid cast and Powellâs exceptional talent made a good time 30 minute program that was quite popular during that Golden Age of Radio. So Letâs sit back now, relax and enjoy this truly otr radio classic.,â, Dick powell as Richard Diamond.., Private Detective.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Adventure Ahead "A Tooth For Paul Revere" (9-09-44)
Adventure Ahead from 1944 aired Saturdays 10:30 - 11:00 am on NBC and was directed by Joseph Mansfield. Swashbuckling tales to running away with the circus, anything adventurous.THIS EPISODE:A Tooth for Paul Revere (9-09-44)Paul Revere (bap. December 22, 1734 (OS) / January 1, 1735 (NS) â May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. Because he was immortalized after his death for his role as a messenger in the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revere's name and his "midnight ride" are well-known in the United States as a patriotic symbol. In his lifetime, Revere was a prosperous and prominent Boston craftsman, who helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military. Revere later served as an officer in one of the most disastrous campaigns of the American Revolutionary War, a role for which he was later exonerated. After the war, he was early to recognize the potential for large-scale manufacturing of metal.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Damon Runyon Theater "Dark Dolores" (11-27-49)
Damon Runyon Theatre - Broadcast from January to December 1949, "The Damon Runyon Theatre" dramatized 52 of Runyon's short stories for radio. Damon Runyon (October 4, 1884 â December 10, 1946) was a newspaperman and writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. He spun tales of gamblers, petty thieves, actors and gangsters; few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead to be known as "Nathan Detroit", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charlie", "Dave the Dude", and so on. These stories were written in a very distinctive vernacular style: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - MGM Theater Of The Air "Stamboul Quest" (8-11-50)
Stamboul Quest from MGM Theater of The Air aired August 11, 1950 starring Angela Lansbury. During World War One a notorious German spy, on a STAMBOUL QUEST for naval secrets, finds herself falling in love with a most persistent young American. This enjoyable espionage thriller features plenty of romance and a convoluted plot.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Crime Does Not Pay "Body Of The Crime" (11-14-49)
Crime Does Not Pay. November 14, 1949. MGM syndication. "Body Of The Crime". Commercials added locally. Sarah and Alma Johnson have disappeared from the Swenson homestead. Norman Williams knows all-too-well what happened to them, but the law seems powerless with the bodies! This was one of the cases that helped to convict Bruno Hauptmann for the murder of the Lindbergh baby, even though the body was not found. The date above is the date of the first broadcast of the program on WMGM, New York, from which this syndicated version may have been taken. Burton B. Turkas (technical advisor), Ira Marion (writer), Jon Gart (music), Marx B. Loeb (director), Parker Fennelly. 27:34.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - he Blue Beetle "Saved By A Hair" (7-10-40)
Dan Garrett, rookie policeman, is secretly the Blue Beetle, friend of the unfortunate and crusader for the law. He is loved by everyone (including the chief's daughter) and suspected of being the Blue Beetle by none. He hides behind a strange mask and wears a blue costume that is as flexible as silk but as strong as steel.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Fifth Horseman "Rehearsal" (7-04-46)
In 1946 the National Broadcasting System created a series of eight half hour radio shows dramatizing the dangers of Atomic Warfare. This was part of an organized effort to turn control of Atomic weapons over to the United Nations so that no individual country would be able to use them.On July 4, 1946 the first program in the The Fifth Horseman series, called "Rehearsal", aired starring Henry Fonda. Written and produced by Arnold Marquis, this program used the recent atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll to illustrate that atomic weapons are designed to be used on cities, not military targets. Fonda portrays an American POW present during the bombing of Hiroshima. The atomic bombing of that city is portrayed in a short drama. Henry Fonda was the first of several stars who contributed to this series, including William Bendix, Glenn Ford and Robert Young among others. The series ran through the summer.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Adventures Of Superman "Lighthouse Point Smugglers" (Episodes 73,74,75 ) 1940
Lighthouse_Point_Smigglers (Episodes 73-74-75) 1940This juvenile adventure series was first broadcast on Mutual in 1940 with Clayton (Bud) Collyer starring as Superman/Clark Kent. It first began as a fifteen-minute show but later, in 1949, it moved to ABC as a thirty-minute Saturday show with Michael Fitzmaurice as Superman. At the end of its thirteen-year run it had totalled over 1600 episodes. The opening for the show was one of radioâs best, setting the stage for those flights into fantasy with a cascade of voices, narration and sound effects. âFaster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!â âLook! Up in the sky!â âItâs a bird!â âItâs a plane!â âItâs Superman!
Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee Three - Gunsmoke "The Deserter" (5-31-59)
Truly THE original adult western and, It was created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The radio show first aired on April 26, 1952 and ran until June 18, 1961 on the CBS radio network. The series starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program. Gunsmoke was notable for its critically acclaimed cast and writing, and is commonly regarded as THE true adult western and one of the finest old time radio shows. Some listeners (such as old time radio expert John Dunning) have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts. Miss Kitty's occupation as a prostitute was made far more obvious on the radio version than on television. Many episodes ended on a down-note, and villains often got away with their crimes.
Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee Two - Lights Out "Haunted Cell" (7-20-46)
Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring "tales of the supernatural and the supernormal." It was immensely popular, and was one of the first horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. In its heydey, Lights Out rivalled the popularity of those shows. Lights Out ran through several series and networks, from January 1, 1934 to August 6, 1947. The principal sponsor was Ironized Yeast. Most episodes were broadcast at midnight. Lights Out then made the transition to television in 1949, where it was broadcast until 1952. Created in Chicago by writer Wyllis Cooper in 1934.
Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee One - The Whisperer "Kidnapping Of Patricia Folsom" (9-16-51)
The Whisperer was an American old-time radio show broadcast from July 8 to September 30, 1951 on NBC. It ran for only 13 episodes. The premise of the series was as improbable as its storylines. The protagonist was Philip Gault (Carleton G. Young), a lawyer who, due to some unexplained accident, lost his voice and could only speak in an eerie whisper. Gault infiltrates "the syndicate" in his native Central City to bring down organized crime from within; to the underworld, he becomes known as the Whisperer. Later, his voice is restored through surgery, but he continues to lead a double life as the Whisperer, relaying instructions from the syndicate bosses in New York (who don't know he's a mole) to their lackeys in Central City, whom Gault is actually setting up.
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee Three - The Sealed Book "The Hand Of Death" (3-18-45)
The Sealed Book starred Philip Clarke as the keeper of the book, a croaking, cackling hermit, with knowledge of the black arts, who in each show unlocked the great padlock that kept the sealed book safe from prying eyes. There was a spook story each week with tales of secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages. This MUTUAL network entry in the horror and mystery genre was far from the best remembered, such as Suspense, Quiet Please, and Inner Sanctum. The Sealed Book begins with a classic intro, in which when gonged, we are escorted by the tuxedoed announcer with unseen organist as the keeper of the book opens the ponderous, albeit squeaky door "to the secret vault wherein is kept the great sealed book, in which is recorded all the secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages, Here are tales of every kind, tales of murder, of madness, of dark deeds strange and terrible beyond all belief." First broadcast date march 18th 1945. Last broadcast date september 9th 1945. Narrated by Philip Clarke and written by Bob Arthur and David Kogan, this mystery anthology was aired over the MUTUAL network Sunday nights at 10:30 p.m.
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee Two - The Ford Theater "Anna Christie" (1-21-49)
First Show: 10-05-47 Last Show: 07-01-49 Number Shows: 78 (39 on NBC, 39 on CBS) Audition Show: none known Series Description: The FORD THEATER, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, presented hour long dramas first on NBC for one only season. The series moved to CBS for its second and last season. There were 39 NBC and 39 CBS hour- long shows (not verified). The show initially received an unfavorable review from the New York Times for poor script adaptation but was still highly rated for the actors' performance and overall production. The show was supposed to feature only original scripts but had to forgo that plan due to lack of quality material. The first season on NBC used radio actors under the direction of George Zachary. Martin Gabel announced the first show but was soon replaced by Kenneth Banghart. The second season, on CBS, used Hollywood screen actors in the lead roles, supported by radio actors. Fletcher Markle, who previously produced CBS's STUDIO ONE series, was the producer for the second season. Although a short series, it still has some of radio's best dramas.
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee One - The Lux Radio Theater "Bullets Or Ballots" (4-17-39)
Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance to do the show. It was when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York City to Hollywood in 1936 that it eased back from adapting stage shows and toward adaptations of films. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell. Many of the greatest names in film appeared in the series, most in the roles they made famous on the screen, including Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Joseph Cotton, Bing Crosby, Dan Duryea, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Vivien Leigh, Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ann Sothern, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Gene Tierney, John Wayne, Jane Wyman, Orson Welles and Loretta Young.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Phyl Coe "2 Episodes From 1936"
The Phyl Coe Mysteries was a syndicated radio series that came out in 1936, with the lead character's name designed to reflect the sponsor, Philco Radio Tubes. PHYL (short for Phyllis) COE is described as the "beautiful girl detective". She was a private investigator who was smart, aggressive, and a "take-charge" lady. In one episode where a magician is shot on stage, Phyl, who is attending the performance, with her boy friend, leaps to the stage, barks orders to theatre personnel, and solves the crime before the cops even get there. In other mysteries, she identifies the thief of a famous painting, solves the mystery involving a new death-ray gun, and solves a murder aboard an aeroplane. Cast and crew have not yet been identified. None of the solutions to each episode appear in it, since the original listeners were supposed to send in their answers to Philco and win cash prizes. About 12 episodes are known to be in circulation. At the heigth of its popularity about 250 radio stations throughout the U.S. were airing this 15 program. The contest was run by Geare-Marston, Inc of Philadelphia.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - You Can't Do Business With Hitler "Episodes 1 and 2" (1940)
You Can't Do Business with Hitler, based on the experiences of Douglas Miller, who was for 15 years commercial attachà to the American Embassy in Berlin. Douglas Miller reveals the NAZI technique of plundering and looting conquered lands. This transcribed program written by Elwood Hoffman and directed by Frank Telford was brought to you by the Radio Section of the Office for Emergency Management in Washington.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Abbott & Costello Show "Costello Gets A Tattoo" (5-07-45)
Abbott and Costello William (Bud) Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo) were an American comedy duo whose work in radio, film and television made them one of the most popular teams in the history of comedy. Thanks to the endurance of their most popular and influential routine, "Who's on First?"---whose rapid-fire word play and comprehension confusion set the preponderant framework for most of their best-known routines---the team are also the only comedians known to have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, NJ, October 2, 1897 and died April 24, 1974 in Woodland Hills, California. Lou Costello was born in Paterson, NJ, March 6, 1906 and died March 3, 1959 in East Los Angeles, California. After working as Allen's summer replacement, Abbott and Costello joined Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on The Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1941, while two of their films (Buck Privates and Hold That Ghost) were adapted for Lux Radio Theater. They launched their own weekly show October 8, 1942, sponsored by Camel cigarettes. The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (usually, by singers such as Connie Haines, Marilyn Maxwell, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Skinnay Ennis, and the Les Baxter Singers). Regulars and semi-regulars on the show included Artie Auerbrook, Elvia Allman, Iris Adrian, Mel Blanc, Wally Brown, Sharon Douglas, Verna Felton, Sidney Fields, Frank Nelson, Martha Wentworth, and Benay Venuta. Ken Niles was the show's longtime announcer, doubling as an exasperated foil to Abbott & Costello's mishaps (and often fuming in character as Costello insulted his on-air wife routinely); he was succeeded by Michael Roy, with annoncing chores also handled over the years by Frank Bingman and Jim Doyle. The show went through several orchestras during its radio life, including those of Ennis, Charles Hoff, Matty Matlock, Jack Meaking, Will Osborne, Freddie Rich, Leith Stevens, and Peter van Steeden.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Inner Sanctum Mysteries "Dead To Rights" (5-22-45)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries was a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952. Created by Himan Brown, the anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense. The tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. A total of 526 episodes are known to have been produced. The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreaaaaammmmssss!" His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, from fellow radio hosts like Ernest Chappell (on Cooper's later series, Quiet, Please) and Maurice Taupin (on The Mysterious Traveler) to the Crypt-Keeper in various incarnations of Tales from the Crypt.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Danger With Grainger "Chase To Salvador" (1937)
Danger With Granger arrived too late in the Golden Age of Radio to have any real impact on the listening public. Mutual aired this show, starting in 1956, on Monday nights at 8:30 pm. It was a half hour show that featured a private eye in New York City, STEVE GRANGER. His two primary companions were Cal Hendrix, a reporter who served as an all-purpose source of criminal info, and Jake Rankin, a police detective with whom he had a grudging rivalry. The writing on the show seemed to incorporate most of the standard cliche's of the P.I. world. Granger, who was both the star and the first-person narrator of the show (not an uncommon practice with radio gumshoes), never saw a woman, instead "he gave the doll the once-over." He didn't kick with his foot, he "lifted a size 10." Instead of paying cash, he "forked over numbered lettuce."
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Ellery Queen, Master Detective "The Lost Treasure" (9-24-39)
Tuska cited Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as the best of the Bellamy-Lindsay pairings. "The influence of The Thin Man series was apparent in reverse", Tuska noted about Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery. "Ellery and Nikki are unmarried but obviously in love with each other. Probably the biggest mystery... is how Ellery ever gets a book written. Not only is Nikki attractive and perfectly willing to show off her figure", Tuska wrote, "but she also likes to write her own stories on Queen's time, and gets carried away doing her own investigations." In Ellery Queen, Master Detective, "the amorous relationship between Ellery and Nikki Porter was given a dignity, and therefore integrity", Tuska wrote, "that was lacking in the two previous entries in the series", made at Republic Pictures before Bellamy and Lindsay were signed by Columbia.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod -Arch Oboler Plays "(2Episodes) Parade and This Living Book" (1945)
Arch Oboler's Plays was a radio drama series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939 to March 23, 1940 and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945 to October 11, 1945. Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Gale Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Adventures Of Maisie "Maisie Wants A New Car" (4-06-50)
Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison,who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction. From the first, MGM wanted Ann Sothern to play Maisie. She began in Hollywood as an extra in 1927. "Maisie and I were just together - I just understood her," Sothern, born Harriette Arlene Lake, said after several of the films made her a star. Throughout the 1930s and '40s, Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball, like many performers in Hollywood, had not one but two careers - one in motion pictures and one on radio. MGM Studios had created the series of ten motion pictures based on a brash blonde with a heart "of spun gold." Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison, who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Dick Barton Special Agent "Episode 1 and 2" (1972)
'Dick Barton Special Agent!' followed by the fast and furious signature tune. The serial was broadcast in 15 minute episodes, Monday to Friday at 6:45pm. Each story spanned 2-4 weeks. Luckily it was broadcast on the very powerful Light Programme so I could even listen on a 1920's crystal set. On a Saturday at 11:00 am. there was a full hour of Barton. This was called an omnibus edition and consisted of the previous week's episodes linked into one long program.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Philo Vance "Blackjack Murder Case" (11-30-48)
Philo Vance was the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Vance, in the original books, is an intellectual so highly refined he seems he might be ghostwritten by P. G. Wodehouse. Take this quote from The Benson Murder Case, 1924, as Vance pontificates in his inimitable way: "That's your fundamental error, don't y' know. Every crime is witnessed by outsiders, just as is every work of art. The fact that no one sees the criminal, or the artist, actu'lly at work, is wholly incons'quential." Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. 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. Perhaps one reason the organist "pulls out all the stops" is because there seems to be little, if any, sound effects on the show. Philo Vance, the radio series, does pay homage to the original books in that both were, even in their own time, a bit out of date and stilted. (OTRR)
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Fibber McGee & Molly "2 Episode Special" (5-29-45) (2-14-49)
"Power Lawn Mower" (5-29-45) & "Out Of Coal" (2-14-49)Fibber McGee and Molly premiered in 1935. The program struggled in the ratings until 1940, when it became a national sensation. Within three years, it was the top-rated program in America. Few radio shows were more beloved than Fibber McGee and Molly. The programâs lovable characters included Mayor LaTrivia, Doc Gamble, Mrs. Uppington, Wallace Wimple, Alice Darling, Gildersleeve, Beulah, Myrt, and the Old Timer. 79 Wistful Vista was one of Americaâs most famous addresses and Mollyâs warning to Fibber not to open the hall closet door (and his subsequent decision to do it) created one of radioâs best remembered running gags that audiences expected each week.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - That Hammer Guy "Contract On A Dead Man" (1954)
Based of the Mickey Spillane series, Larry Haines stars as Mike Hammer-the ever entertaining handsome, violent, hard-boiled private eye. Tune in to any exciting episode which would not be complete without the ever beautiful Velda accompanything Mike while he insults some beautiful dame, takes a mysterious phone call, goes wild with reckless driving, and shoots some his gun off to solve the murder case.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Jack Armstrong "2 Episodes (1-06-41) and 1-08-41)"
JACK ARMSTRONG - 2 Episodes:"A Clue To Prof. Loring" (1-06-41) and "Yates The Traitor Returns" (1-08-41)CAST: Jim Ameche, Stanley Harris, Frank Behrens, Charles Flynn, Rye Billsbury, St John Terrell, John Gannon, Roland Butterfield, Murray McLean, Milton Guion, Dick York, Shaindel Kalish, Sarajane Wells, Loretta Poynton, Naomi May, Patricia Dunlap, Jim Goss, Don Ameche, Frank Dane and Jack Doty, Herb Butterfield, Ed Davison, Arthur Van Slyke, Olan Soule, Ken Christy, Frank Behrens, Michael Romano, Robert Barron, Ken Griffin, Carlton KaDell.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Story Of Dr. Kildare - Ling Ko (10-27-50)
Dr. James Kildare was a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show. The character was invented by the author Frederick Schiller Faust (aka Max Brand). The character began in the film series as a medical intern; after becoming a doctor he was mentored by an older physician, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. After the first ten films, the series eliminated the character of Kildare and focused instead on Gillespie.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Diary Of Fate "Lloyd Mawson" (5-18-48)
Diary of Fate is a mystery and horror program where âFateâ narrates and always wins by the end of the story. These are great suspense filled stories about average people who are subject to the mysteries of their âFateâ. In This episode, March 16, 1948. Program #14. Finley syndication. "Joe Mattock". Commercials added locally. Book 63, page 397. A truck driver and his beautiful hitch-hiker commit murder to get their hands on $100,000, kept in a little black bag. The date is subject to correction. Ivan Ditmars (music), Larry Finley (producer), Hal Sawyer, Frank Albertson, Gloria Blondell, Herb Lytton, Jerry Hausner, Ray Ehrlenborn (probable sound effects). 26:47
Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee Two - The Columbia Radio Workshop "Home For The 4th Of July" (7-04-44)
The Columbia Workshop was the first to experiment with what radio drama was all about, introducing new techniques never before used in over the airwaves drama and because it received little encouragement from established writers, actors, etc., it was only by breaking new ground with new ideas and new techniques from writers who were not versed in the old ways that it was going to survive. Unlike theater drama which required scenery to stage the settings of a play. Radio drama relied only on the imagination of the listener to interpret the scene.
Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee One - Academy Award Theater "Foreign Correspondent" (7-24-46)
The list of films and actors on Academy Award Theater is very impressive. Bette Davis begins the series in Jezebel, with Ginger Rogers following in Kitty Foyle, and then Paul Muni in The Life of Louis Pasteur. The Informer had to have Victor Mclaglen, and the Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet (this movie was his first major motion picutre role) plus Mary Astor for the hat trick. Suspicion starred Cary Grant with Ann Todd doing the Joan Fontaine role, Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon, and Joan Fontaine and John Lund were in Portrait of Jenny. How Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were done is something to hear!
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee Three - Mystery Playhouse (Dark Venture) "The Boarder" (1947)
Have you ever wondered what it might be like inside the mind of a criminal? The stories of Mystery Playhouse (Dark Venture) try to imagine. In this thrilling drama series, you will be drawn in to the murky calculations behind sinister acts. How much money would make stealing worthwhile? If your business partner caught you stealing $50,000 from your company, would he turn you in to the authorities? Would you let yourself be blackmailed? Or, would you let yourself commit another, more serious crime? On the verge of breaking the law, or taking a life, all risks and dangers must be considered.
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee Two - Mystery House "Murder For Laughs" (11-04-45)
That strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn - where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff, before it is accepted for publication. Mystery House was a program in the 1950âs, but not your run of the mill type program. Actually it was more of a proving ground for novels. Dan and Barbara Glenn owned a publishing company named âMystery Houseâ located at 70 Park Avenue, New York City. Dan and Barbara decided to test some of their novels on a real listening audience. Each episode was taken from a novel they were planning on publishing. The entire staff at Mystery House was involved, everyone doing their part, whether it was rewriting to adapt it to radio, playing the parts or doing sound effects, everyone joined in. Sadly, not a lot is known about this series. Only 15 are known to exist.
Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee One - General Mills Radio Adventure Theater "Adventures Of Oliver Twist" (6-11-77)
General Mills Radio Adventure TheaterThe series had it origins in the meeting of two minds: the ad agency for General Mills at the time, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample was looking for a different means to reach a child audience besides television, which was decreasing commercial minutes and increasing costs; and Himan Brown, producer-director of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, who wanted to introduce new audiences to the dramatic form on radio. Tom Bosley was chosen as the host because of his television recognition from a kidâs oriented series, Happy Days. CBS chose to produce 52 original broadcasts followed by 52 repeat broadcasts. I believe they had hoped to maintain General Mills sponsorship during the complete 104 episodes, but General Mills dropped their sponsorship after the original broadcasts. The series continued for the next 52 repeats as the CBS Radio Adventure Theater.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The FBI In Peace And War "The Scientific Touch" (9-07-55)
The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewsis Collins' book, The FBI in Peace and War. The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins. Airing on CBS from November 25, 1944 to September 28, 1958, it had a variety of sponsors (including Lava Soap, Wildroot Cream Oil, Lucky Strike, Nescafe and Wrigley's) over the years. Martin Blaine and Donald Briggs headed the cast. Theme music was "The Love for Three Oranges" (Prokofiev)
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Creaking Door "Day Of Truce" (1949)
In 1964, South Africa began The Creaking Door, using original scripts which included stories with a heavy emphasis on the supernatural. The topics ranged from haunted houses to a woman who turns into a giant cat, and of course, the typical paranoid murderer so often presented on the original Inner Sanctum. The host for this series was Peter Bloomfield. There are at present anywhere from 34-37 extant episodes in MP3 circulation, yet no currently available program logs for the series indicate the year of the series' broadcast (though it was likely sometime in the 1950s, given the generally high audio quality of the available shows), or the total number of episodes, and only a handful of them are known by their broadcast order. The stories are thrillers in the Inner Sanctum vein, and generally thought of favorably by most fans of OTR.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes "Murder Under The Big Top" (11-06-44)
Sherlock Holmes described himself as a "consulting detective", an expert who is brought into cases that have proven too difficult for other (typically official) investigators; we are told that he is on many an occasion able to solve a problem without leaving his home. Naturally, this aspect is minimized in the stories themselves, which tend to focus on the more interesting cases that require him to do actual legwork. He specializes in solving unusual cases using his extraordinary powers of observation and logical reasoning, and frequently demonstrates these abilities to new clients by making on-the-spot deductions about their personalities and recent activities. This simple marketing strategy rarely fails to impress and build confidence in his services.
Boxcars711 Holiday Matinee Three - Space Patrol "The Space Shark" (12-06-52) Ep.10
Space Patrol. ABC net origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. Commander Corry and Cadet Happy are stranded a half-million light-years from home, but are helped by a friendly alien. Ed Kemmer, Lyn Osborn. 25 minutes.THIS EPISODE:Space Patrol. December 6, 1952. ABC network. "The Space Shark". Sponsored by: Ralston Cereals. While attempting to rescue Tonga from food poisoners, Commander Corry and Cadet Happy are nearly fried by heat mirrors on Venus. Later, Commander Corry dodges a guided missile through the rings of Saturn! Bela Kovacs, Dick Tufeld (announcer), Ed Kemmer, Ken Mayer, Larry Robertson (producer, director), Lou Houston (writer), Lyn Osborn, Mike Mosser (creator), Nina Bara. 29:28.
Boxcars711 Holiday Matinee Two - Cloak And Dagger "Windfall" (10-22-50) ep22
"Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission for the United States, knowing in advance you may never return alive?" Cloak and Dagger first aired over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the Summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its Summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. This is the story of the WWII special governmental agency, the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services. Its mission was to develop and maintain spy networks throughout Europe and into Asia, while giving aid to underground partisan groups and developing espionage activities for Allied forces overseas.The show is based on the book of the same name by Lt. Col. Corey Ford and Major Alastair MacBain (who were associated with the OSS from its early days.) The dramas are not Hollywood-style, in that they sometimes end with plans foiled or leading characters dead.
Boxcars711 Holiday Matinee One - Theater Guild On The Air "Jacobowsky & The Colonel" (9-16-45)
Theater Guild On The Air - Jacobowsky And The Colonel.mp3Jacobowsky and the Colonel Originally aired September 16, 1945 (adapted by S. N. Behrman from a play by Franz Werfel; produced by the Theater Guild in association with Jack H. Skirball) uses one of the grimmest moments of the warâthe fall of Franceâfor half-satiric, half-fantastic comedy. Its comic thesis is that flight from the Nazis makes strange carfellows. A swaggering, snooty Polish colonel with "a perfect 15th-Century mind" (well played by Louis Calhern) and a rueful, humorous, clever Jewish refugee (delightfully played by Oscar Karlweis) both have to bolt from Paris on the run. The colonel cannot find a car; Jacobowsky finds one but cannot drive. Grandly tossing out Jacobowsky's luggage, the colonel condescends to take the wheel, and off they goâsmack toward the Nazis in order to fetch the colonel's pretty mistress (Annabellaâsee p. 62). From then on, while the colonel remains majestically helpless, Jacobowsky gets the party out of tight squeezes, ferrets out food, locates gasoline. As the colonel's lady becomes more & more admiring of Jacobowsky, the colonel becomes more & more jealous, issues a challenge, creates an opÃra-bouffe atmosphere that makes the trip as much a flight from reality as from the Nazis.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Dragnet "Helen Corday" (7-07-49)
Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in American media history. The series gave millions of Americans a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real-life police work. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers. Actor and producer Jack Webbâs aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting. He achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media. The show's cultural impact is demonstrated by the fact that even after five decades, elements of Dragnet are known to those who've never seen or heard the program.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Its A Crime Mr Collins "Rockabye Murder" (1956)
It's A Crime Mr. Collins. 1956. Mutual net origination, syndicated. "Rockabye Murder". Commercials added locally. Mr. Collins finds himself Mayor-for-a-day in a small town out west...and he finds murder too! The date is approximate. Mandel Kramer, Gail Collins, Richard Denning. 25 minutes.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Falcon "Case Of The Shopkeepers Gun" (4-15-51)
The Falcon - 1943-1954 This was a 30-minute detective serial. The character of the series was created by Michael Arlen in 1940. It was subsequently made in to a movie series. The original hero was called Gay Lawrence and was played by George Sanders.THIS EPISODE:April 15, 1951. NBC net. "The Case Of The Shopkeeper's Gun". Sponsored by: Kraft. Not auditioned. Drexel Drake (creator), Ed Herlihy (announcer), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Jerome Epstein (writer), Richard Lewis (director), Arlo (music), Les Damon, Ken Lynch. 28:48.
Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Casey Crime Photographer "Too Many Angels" (11-13-47)
The adventures of Casey, crack photographer for The Morning Express, were told in this series, which moved to television after a highly successful run on radio in the 1940âs. Casey hung out at the Blue Note CafÃ, where the music was provided by the Tony Mottola Trio, and was friendly with Ethelbert, the bartender, to whom he recounted his various exploits. Richard Carlyle and John Gibson portrayed the roles when the series premiered in April, 1951, but by June they were replaced by Darren McGavin and Cliff Hall. Ann Williams, a reporter on The Morning Express, was Caseyâs girlfriend. During the summer of 1951 he acquired a partner in cub reporter Jack Lipman, who wrote copy to go with Caseyâs pictures. This live series was set in and broadcast from, New York City.