Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

As "Bud Smith," the amnesiac Superman is a home run-crushing, strike-out hurling baseball phenom! But "Big" George Latimer still hunts for the missing Man of Steel and the crew at the Daily Planet is looking for Clark Kent. This epic adventure continues with the next five chapters, originally aired on Mutual between June 11 and June 17, 1947.

Happy 4th of July and a happy 250th birthday to the USA! In honor of this momentous occasion, I'm sharing an encore presentation of four American history mysteries. Henry Fonda recreates his role of  Young Mr. Lincoln  in a radio version of the classic film on  Academy Award  (originally aired on CBS on July 10, 1946). Honest Abe is a lawyer who must clear his wrongfully accused clients of murder....

As our epic adventure continues, Superman escaped from "Big" George Latimer, but his exposure to the kryptonite robbed him of his memory. Soon he trades his trademark cape and costume for a baseball uniform as a pitcher with an unbelievable arm in the next five chapters of the story that originally aired on Mutual between June 4 and June 10, 1947.

We wrap up our month of actors who played multiple detectives on the air with Bob Bailey. Bailey played wisecracking gumshoe George Valentine on Let George Do It before he stepped in as Johnny Dollar and made the role of "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" his own. We'll hear him as George in "Come and Get Me" (originally aired on Mutual on May 16, 1949) and "The Silent Waterfall...

The stakes are higher than ever for Superman as this epic adventure continues! "Big" George Latimer may have figured out how to use the Kryptonite to wipe out Superman once and for all, as Batman and Robin continue their desperate search for the Man of Steel. We'll hear every exciting minute in these five chapters that aired on Mutual between May 28 and June 3, 1947.

We continue our look at actors who played multiple gumshoes on the air with Gerald Mohr - who, for my money, gave us the definitive portrayal of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. But Mr. Mohr wasn't only Mr. Marlowe on the air. He also put in a four-episode stint as Archie Goodwin to Sydney Greenstreet's Nero Wolfe. We'll hear Mohr as Marlowe in three radio mysteries: "The Hard Way Out" (original...

Our bonus series starring the Man of Steel continues with the next five chapters of the epic adventure "Superman vs. Kryptonite." The dynamic duo Batman and Robin step in to help their super friend, who is threatened by corrupt political boss "Big" George Latimer in these exciting installments that aired on Mutual between May 21 and May 27, 1947.

Our salute to actors who played multiple radio detectives continues with Dick Powell, who transformed himself from a comedic crooner to a hard-boiled hero on the big screen. We'll hear him as two private Dicks - Richard Rogue from Rogue's Gallery and as Richard Diamond, Private Detective . He's Rogue in "The Triangle Murder Case" (originally aired on Mutual on February 21, 1946) and "The Corpse I...

Supergirl flies back to the big screen this summer (with a cameo from her cousin from Metropolis), and to celebrate we present an epic radio adventure of the Man of Steel. From the spring and summer of 1947, it's "Superman vs. Kryptonite," a story that begins when an old enemy of Superman's comes into possession of the hero's Achilles heel. We'll hear the first five parts of the story - episodes t...

For June, we're spotlighting stars who played multiple detectives on the air and our first leading man is Tom Conway. In 1946, he took over the deerstalker cap from Basil Rathbone on The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and in 1951, he donned Simon Templar's halo as Vincent Price's replacement on The Saint . We'll hear Conway as Holmes - with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson - in "The Darlington Substit...

Our month-long spotlight series on mystery writers concludes with John Dickson Carr, master of the locked room mystery who was recently referenced in Wake Up Dead Man . We'll hear some thrillers penned by Carr for Suspense as well as episodes of his own mystery anthology series Cabin B-13. From Suspense , it's "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1942) and the first half of "Th...

For this month's bonus episode, we're back on Baker Street for my five favorite radio adaptations of Sherlock Holmes adventures penned by Arthur Conan Doyle. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce star in "The Speckled Band" (originally aired on Mutual on November 12, 1945), and Bruce and Tom Conway star in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (originally aired on ABC on February 3, 1947). Then, John St...

Our spotlight mystery writer of the week is Dorothy L. Sayers, the English writer, poet, and essayist whose work evolved and advanced the detective genre with characterization and humor. She's best known for the adventures of aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, and we'll hear one of his exploits adapted for Suspense - "The Cave of Ali Baba" (originally aired on CBS on August 19, 1942)...

Our month-long salute to mystery writing legends continues with the queen of crime herself - Agatha Christie. She wrote over sixty novels, dozens of short stories, and created two of the genre's most beloved sleuths - Hercule Poirot, the fastidious and brilliant Belgian detective, and Miss Marple, the kindly amateur investigator. We'll hear four of Dame Agatha's tales recreated for radio: "The Mur...

Our month of classic mystery writers continues with Dashiell Hammett - the former Pinkerton operative whose celebrated characters include Sam Spade, the Continental Op, and Nick and Nora Charles. Radio shows based on his sleuths were some of the most popular on radio until Hammett became a casualty of the Red Scare. We'll hear some of his stories recreated for radio: an adaptation of "The Thin Man...

In honor of his May 6th birthday, we're saluting the great Orson Welles with a pair of radio performances set on Baker Street. First, he's the great detective himself in "The Immortal Sherlock Holmes" from The Mercury Theatre On the Air (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1938). Then, he's Holmes' archnemesis Professor Moriarty - opposite John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson as Holmes and Watso...

For May, we're spotlighting authors whose works inspired old time radio mysteries. First up is Raymond Chandler - best known for creating the iconic Los Angeles gumshoe Philip Marlowe. We'll hear a pair of Chandler's Marlowe stories adapted for radio - "Trouble is My Business" with Van Heflin (originally aired on NBC on August 5, 1947) and "Red Wind" with Gerald Mohr (originally aired on CBS on Se...

Our month of Jack Webb continues with his most unusual crime drama - Pete Kelly's Blues , a show that incorporated Webb's love of jazz into its weekly mysteries. Kelly played cornet in a combo at a Kansas City speakeasy during Prohibition, and each episode featured vocal and instrumental musical numbers. Though it didn't last long on radio, Webb brought Pete Kelly's Blues to the big screen with a...

Our Jack Webb series continues this week with Jeff Regan, Investigator - another stint as a hard-boiled gumshoe before he picked up Joe Friday's badge on Dragnet . Regan was the long-suffering operative of Anthony J. Lyon's International Detective Bureau, and "the Lyon's eye" was always thrown into whatever dangerous case his boss took on with no questions asked. We'll hear Webb as Regan in four r...

Our month-long salute to Jack Webb continues with his signature series and my five favorite radio episodes of Dragnet . We'll join Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday as he keeps the streets of Los Angeles safe from crooks of all stripes. We'll hear "The Big Bomb" (originally aired on NBC on July 13, 1950); "The Big Saint" (originally aired on NBC on April 26, 1951); "The Big Bunco" (originally aired on NBC o...

We kick off a new month-long series saluting the great Jack Webb in honor of his April 2nd birthday, and we're starting with Pat Novak for Hire - his ultra-hard boiled series that put him on the map. Novak never looked for trouble but always found it on the San Francisco waterfront, and we'll hear him try to keep his head above water in four radio mysteries: "Jack of Clubs" (originally aired on AB...

Easter is almost here, and we've got a pair of old time radio mysteries with a twist on the bunny and his basket. Lon Clark stars as Nick Carter, Master Detective in "The Case of the Chemical Chickens," a story of explosive eggs (originally aired on Mutual on April 13, 1947). Then, a rabbit farm that ends up the scene of a murder as Sydney Greenstreet and Larry Dobkin star in "The Case of the Brav...

For the final installment in our month-long series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars, we shine the spotlight on Van Heflin. The star of Shane and 3:10 to Yuma won his Best Supporting Actor prize for his work in Johnny Eager , but on radio he starred as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in the character's first regular series. We'll hear him as the Los Angeles gumshoe in three radio mysteries...

A new baseball season begins this week, and we're throwing out a ceremonial radio first pitch with a pair of mysteries set around the diamond. First, Boston Blackie investigates when a player is murdered in the middle of a game in a syndicated mystery starring Richard Kollmar. Then, Vincent Price investigates a gang of crooked gamblers out to fix some ballgames in "Baseball Murder" from The Saint...

Our series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars continues with Edmond O'Brien, who took home the Best Supporting Actor prize for The Barefoot Contessa and who picked up another well-deserved nomination for Seven Days in May . O'Brien was the second actor to star as Johnny Dollar - "the man with the action-packed expense account" - and we'll hear him in four of Dollar's radio adventures: "The Ric...