Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

When it comes to hard-boiled crime fiction, fewer did wrote it better than Raymond Chandler. One of the titans of the genre, Chandler penned dozens of pulp stories before he introduced his signature character of private eye Philip Marlowe. We'll hear a pair of Marlowe's radio adventures starring Gerald Mohr – "The Baton Sinister" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1949) and "The Long Way Ho...

On July 12, 1946, Dashiell Hammett's famous private eye Sam Spade came to radio in what became one of the greatest detective shows of the era. With witty scripts and a dynamic lead performance from Howard Duff, the series thrilled listeners and kept a smile on their faces in a program that stands out from the crowd of hard-boiled gumshoes and cops. In honor of the seventieth anniversary of its rad...

Staats Cotsworth is on the scene and on the job as Casey, Crime Photographer – ace cameraman and amateur sleuth. Casey gets the pictures of crime stories of the big city and he works to bring the criminals to justice. It's all in a day's work, and he's usually done in time to enjoy a drink at the Blue Note Café with his friends. We'll hear Casey in "The Red Raincoat" (originally aired on CBS on Au...

Brilliant, handsome, and foppish, amateur sleuth Philo Vance went through some character makeovers as he jumped from the pages of S.S. Van Dine's detective novels to the big screen and later to radio. Jackson Beck played Vance as a nearly hard-boiled private eye, but his two earliest radio incarnations stuck a bit closer to the character from the source material. We'll hear two of Philo Vance's fi...

A gifted mimic and dynamic actor, Jack Moyles was a key component of several classic radio shows. Whether he was in supporting roles or in the lead, Moyles brought an always engaging, entertaining presence to the microphone. In honor of his birthday, we'll salute Mr. Moyles on this week's episode of "Down These Mean Streets." First, we'll hear him as American ex-pat, club owner, and amateur sleuth...

To an entire generation of fans, Basil Rathbone was Sherlock Holmes. On the big screen and on radio, Rathbone brought the master detective of Baker Street to life and left a lasting impression on the character. He became closely identified with the role - eventually to the point where he wanted to distance himself from Holmes' deerstalker. We'll hear Rathbone as Holmes in "The Manor House Case" (o...

Radio sleuthing didn't get much sweeter than when Bob Bailey voiced Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar . Bailey starred as Dollar for five years, but he was never better than 1955 to 1956 when the series aired as a nightly fifteen-minute serial. In those five-part stories, Bailey gave listeners a detective who was tough, determined, funny, and who wore his heart on his sleeve. Combined with sharp directio...

With his powerful voice, Gerald Mohr was equally effective as both hero and heel on radio. Listeners may know him best as Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled shamus Philip Marlowe, but Mohr logged nearly five hundred performances during the Golden Age of Radio playing everything from slapstick comedy to high adventure. We'll hear him as Archie Goodwin – opposite Sydney Greenstreet's Nero Wolfe – in "Th...

In honor of what would have been his 115th birthday, we tip our hat to Vincent Price, the legendary star of stage, screen, and television. Price was a polished radio performer in the years before he became best known as a big screen horror star. From 1947 to 1951, he starred as Simon Templar - "the Robin Hood of modern crime" - in  The Saint . We'll celebrate this wonderful actor with one of his t...

For fifteen years on radio, America and her secrets were kept safe by David Harding – Counterspy . The espionage mystery drama starred Don McLaughlin as Harding, the chief of the counterspies and a man always ready to thwart a dastardly Axis plot or hunt down swindlers and hijackers. Aided by right-hand man Harry Peters (Mandel Kramer), Harding did battle with enemies foreign and domestic to keep...

For eight weeks in the summer of 1950,  Somebody Knows  dramatized unsolved murder cases with the goal of solving the crimes. A reward of five thousand dollars awaited any listener who had evidence that could lead to the capture and conviction of the killer. Hosted and directed by Jack Johnstone,  Somebody Knows boasted a cast of veteran radio players in its dramatic true crime recreations. We'll...

We celebrate the birthday of the legendary Orson Welles with his radio version of Agatha Christie's classic mystery  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . Adapted for the dramatic anthology series  The Campbell Playhouse , it stars Welles as both the story's narrator and as Christie's celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot. This twisted tale brought to life by Orson Welles and a talented supporting cast origina...

Dick Powell is Richard Diamond, the only radio gumshoe who carries a tune along with his gun. The big screen star's talents are put to perfect use in the character of Diamond, a tough, glib ex-cop turned shamus in the Big Apple who is equally skilled with his wits and his fists and who always wraps up the caper with a song for his girlfriend. The combination of Powell's winning performance and scr...

For a dozen years on radio, Lon Clark starred as Nick Carter, Master Detective , the brilliant shamus who leapt from dime novels to pulp pages to the big screen and then to the airwaves. Aided by his girl Friday Patsy Bowen, Nick tackled cases that left the police scratching their heads in one of the longest-running detective dramas on the air. We'll hear Carter arrive in the "Nick" of time in "De...

Reformed thief turned private detective Michael Lanyard was known to friend and foe alike as "The Lone Wolf." The debonair rogue thrilled readers from his first appearance in 1914, and he was a mainstay on the big screen from the silent film era through the 1940s. He made his first radio appearance not in his own series but in an episode of "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" – Suspense . War...

In between gigs as Pat Novak, For Hire , Jack Webb brought another waterfront private eye to radio with Johnny Madero, Pier 23 . The shows were similar – a little too similar for the taste of ABC and their own Webb-free Novak series. But the tough hard-boiled atmosphere, the sharp writing, and the trademark Jack Webb underplayed performance make the short-lived Johnny Madero a worthy addition to t...

Follow reporter Randy Stone on his nightly sojourn through the streets of Chicago in Night Beat . Stone, voiced by Frank Lovejoy, covers the city after dark for his paper, and he makes his trek in search of stories for his columns. What he usually finds are desperate people and dangerous situations in one of radio's best dramas. We'll hear Randy Stone on the trail of a scoop in "Am I My Brother's...

Look – up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a bonus episode of "Down These Mean Streets" starring Superman and Batman. We're marking the release of Batman v. Superman - Dawn of Justice with a complete adventure from radio's  The Adventures of Superman . Journey back to a time when the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader fought evil instead of each other and enjoy the exciting conclus...

Before they met on the big screen or even in comics, Superman and Batman first joined forces on radio when the Caped Crusader visited The Adventures of Superman . To celebrate the release of their first cinematic team-up – Batman v Superman – Dawn of Justice , "Down These Mean Streets" presents the world's finest heroes in a serialized radio adventure – "Is There Another Superman?" Clayton Collyer...

Accused of a crime you didn't commit? If you were an innocent radio character, you wanted Martha Ellis Bryant - Defense Attorney - in your corner. Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge stars as Marty Bryant – a lawyer and detective in the vein of Perry Mason – ready to stand before judge and jury to advocate for her clients. We'll hear one of her radio cases - "Client Mike Pelley" (or...

Listen as the dedicated men and women of the Illustrated Press fight crime and corruption with the power of the press in Big Town . Edward Pawley is editor Steve Wilson and Fran Carlon is reporter Lorelei Kilbourne in one of radio's longest-running and most popular newspaper dramas. Steve and Lorelei make the news as often as they report it, putting their lives on the line to chase down leads and...

Head back to the Great White Way and the crime behind the bright lights and buzz of the city in  Broadway is My Beat . Detective Danny Clover walks "the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world" in two episodes of one of radio's finest police procedurals. First, Anthony Ross stars as Clover in "The Fixed Prize Fight Case" (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1949). Then, Larry...

Just in time for the Academy Awards, "Down These Mean Streets" presents a bonus episode featuring a trio of Oscar-winning radio detectives. First, Frank Sinatra is  Rocky Fortune  in "Shipboard Jewel Robbery" (originally aired on NBC on October 20, 1953). Then, Van Heflin is Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in "Trouble is My Business" (originally aired on NBC on August 5, 1947). Finally, Rex Harr...

Short, stout, and wielding only an umbrella, G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown may be the unlikeliest of detectives. The parish priest uses his insight into human nature - and his understanding of the evil side of that nature - to uncover the truth and bring the guilty to justice. Karl Swenson stars as the kindly and keen-minded Father Brown in "The Three Tools of Death," an Armed Forces Radio Servic...

February 14th isn't only Valentine's Day. It's also the birthday of radio's most famous comedian, Jack Benny. The perpetually 39 year old Benny was born February 14, 1894. His landmark radio program was a popular hit for over two decades, and he remains one of the most influential comedians of the twentieth century. In honor of his birthday, we're celebrating the legendary funnyman with one of his...