Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Bonco Squad - The Case Of The Bookworm (04-15-50) "The Case Of The Bookworm" (Aired April 20, 1950) The Bunco Squad were from authentic cases drawn from the police files of the nation, featuring the Bunco artist, the swindler, the con man who came in a thousand disguises, had a million tricks and could make a sucker out of anyone. The program aired in 1950 and was devoted to debunking bunco scheme...

Help Wanted (Aired August 13, 1945) The Bulldog Drummond stories followed Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, D.S.O., M.C., a wealthy former WWI officer of the fictional Loamshire Regiment, who, after the war, spends his new-found leisure time as a private detective. Drummond is a proto-James Bond figure and a version of the imperial adventurers depicted by the likes of John Buchan. In terms of the d...

The Charles Crandall Murder Case (Aired May 12, 1951) Broadway Is My Beat, a radio crime drama, ran on CBS from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954. With music by Robert Stringer, the show originated from New York during its first three months on the air, with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Detective Danny Clover. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb. Beginning with the July 7, 1...

INTRO: Bob Camardella Remembers Nat & Natalie Cole "Unforgetable" (1991) The Philanthropist (Aired January 30, 1949) Alan Ladd's early portrayals of Dan Holiday did tend to be a bit pat, somewhat sparse in depth, and even wooden in the beginning. Ladd hired some excellent voice talent for his project, and these superb, veteran Radio professionals set a pretty high bar for Ladd, himself. Box 13...

Death Wish (Aired October 1, 1947) While investigating mysteries, Blackie invaribly encountered harebrained Police Inspector Farraday (Maurice Tarplin) and always solved the mystery to Farraday's amazement. Initially, friction surfaced in the relationship between Blackie and Farraday, but as the series continued, Farraday recognized Blackie's talents and requested assistance. Blackie dated Mary We...

Deadly Merchandise (Aired March 26, 1951) Bold Venture is a 1951-1952 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions. Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward...

Filling Out Income Tax With Guest Jane Russell (Aired March 4, 1953) After five years on the Vaudeville circuit, by his own account Hope was surprised and humbled when he and his partner Grace Louise Troxell failed a 1930 screen test for Pathé at Culver City, California. (Hope had been on the screen in small parts, 1927's The Sidewalks of New York and 1928's Smiles. Hope returned to New York City...

The Blue Beetle - "Dancing Ghosts Of Rocky Hill 2 Pts. COMPLETE" (08-21-41) The exploits of Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman who, by wearing bullet-proof blue chain mail, transformed himself into the mysterious Blue Beetle, a daring crusader for justice. The Blue Beetle was created by Charles Nicholas. The character made his first appearance in August of 1939 in the comic book Mystery Men #1, publi...

"Mrs. Aldrich' s Antique Chairs" (Aired January 17, 1949) The Aldrich Family was launched in its own series as a summer replacement program for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by General Foods's popular gelatin dessert Jell-O, which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldri...

The cast of characters is fairly large, but they are easy to keep separate, since each of them is quite distinctive. This is an especially important feature in a murder mystery that depends on keeping track of who is whom! The acting seems slightly over-the-top at first: my initial reaction was that everyone was overacting. However, this style is maintained throughout the whole film, and it doesn'...

The Stolen Pearl Necklace (Aired October 4, 1946) The Alan Young Show was a radio and television series presented in diverse formats over a nine-year period and starring Canadian-English actor Alan Young. It began on NBC radio as a summer replacement situation comedy in 1944, featuring vocalist Bea Wain. It moved to ABC with Jean Gillespie portraying Young's girlfriend Betty. The program was next...

Agatha Christie Presents Hercule Poirot "Evil Under The Sun" Part 3 of 5 The centerpiece of the movie, the murder mystery itself, is interesting, and kept me guessing right up to the very end. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Evil Under the Sun is that it invites the viewer to try to figure out the puzzle along with Poirot, which makes for a fun and engaging viewing experience. The movie plays...

Evil Under the Sun is a classic Agatha Christie Murder Mystery, featuring the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov). In this instance, Poirot is on a working holiday, as he is put on the trail of a fake jewel that leads him to an expensive island resort in the Mediterranean. The other guests turn out to be an interesting assortment, as there are many connections (both overt and c...

The Radio Program Blood Test (Aired February 19, 1947) In 1940, Henry Morgan was offered a daily 15-minute series on Mutual Broadcasting System's flagship station, WOR. This show was a 15-minute comedy, which he opened almost invariably with "Good evening, anybody; here's Morgan." In his memoir Here's Morgan (1994), he wrote that he devised that introduction as a dig at popular singer Kate Smith,...

Unidentified Body (Aired July 28, 1945) The Haunting Hour is a work-in-progress collection within the holdings of many serious Radio Collectors. From the meager available productions currently in circulation it's clear that the series was popular for its time, at the very least. With a known run of at least 52 unique scripts and more doubtful further 39 to 52 scripts, it would appear that the seri...

The Harold Peary Show - Income Tax Time (Aired March 14, 1951) Honest Harold Hemp lived with his mother and nephew and did a radio homemaker's program. The series received undeserved negative ratings and general negative attitude of the critics. The Honest Harold scripts were well crafted with well developed characters and had excellent acting and production values. Many people, including Harold P...

The Blackboard Jungle (Aired November 23, 1955) Tony Hancock starred as an exaggerated version of his own character, a down-at-heel comedian living at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings in East Cheam. Sid James played a criminally-inclined confidante who usually managed to con Hancock, while Bill Kerr appeared as Hancock's dim-witted Australian lodger. Moira Lister also appeared in the first seri...

The Halls of Ivy - "The Gangster's Son" (Aired January 20, 1950) The Halls of Ivy was an NBC radio sitcom that ran from 1950-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy (1954-55) produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. Quinn developed the show after he had decided to leave Fibber McGee &amp...

The Camping Trip (Aired June 29, 1949) Blondie is an American comic strip created by Murat Bernard "Chic" Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930. The success of the comic strip led to the long-running Blondie film series (1938-1950) and the popular Blondie radio program (1939-1950). Chic Young drew Blondie until his death i...

The Brass Button (Aired May 10, 1953) Noted Crime Reporter Percy Hoskins of London's Daily Express was integral to the development of both Whitehall 1212 and Secrets of Scotland Yard. To that end, it's worth noting that the more dramatic, morbid, or salacious elements of The Black Museum's presentations aren't nearly as exacting in detail or as precise in background as those of Secrets of Scotland...

Nightmare House (Aired January 11, 1949) The stories were well written and directed by William N. Robson as well as McGill. The skill of this group shows in making the series very good radio. The show was a big promoter of the free press and the first amendment with its opening sequence: "Freedom of the press is a flaming sword! Use it justly...hold it high...guard it well!" The second series bega...

Beyond Midnight - ""The Tangled Way" (1950)  This series was written by Michael McCabe and was produced in South Africa. It was a replacement for another series McCabe produced, called SF68. That series adapted famous Sci-fi stories to radio, and it seems to have been the place where McCabe honed his craft. The subject matter to Beyond Midnight was more horror oriented, including madness, murder,...

"Night Must Fall" (Aired December 21, 1952) Listeners get a taste of plays from the Broadway stage in this anthology series. The featured works were from authors as talented and varied as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Noel Coward and William Shakespeare. Stars such as Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith, and Maureen Stapleton played roles in such notable dramas as The Glass Menagerie, Of Mice and...

INTRO: Bob Camardella Plays Peabo Bryson "Unconditional Love" (1999) Murder By Error (Aired July 13, 1954) Like Sam Spade, Craig narrated his stories, in addition to being the leading character in this 30 minute show. Nearly sixty episodes are in trading circulation today William Gargan as a Detective (and an actor) If William Gargan brought an air of authenticity to his roles as a private detecti...

Charlie' s College Reunion (Aired January 1, 1942) Barrel of Fun was a comedy musical that ran from 1941 to 1942 and stars Charlie Ruggles who is a comedian and quick wit who loves to make endless quips. Ruggles was so versatile, he could play infants to old men and he also had one of theose famous rubbery faces. Charlie Ruggles was a comic American actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles...