Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

In this bonus episode, we're walking the  Night Beat with reporter Randy Stone in my five favorite episodes of this fantastic radio drama series. Frank Lovejoy stars as Stone, always looking for stories for his newspaper column and always ready to help people in need. We'll hear the show's first episode ("Zero," originally aired on NBC on February 6, 1950), where he helps a woman track down a man...

Love is in the air, but in these old time radio mysteries romance leads to violence. First, Marlene Dietrich's boyfriend takes the rap for a murder she committed in "The Lady from the Sea" from  The Philip Morris Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on March 11, 1949). Next, as Ranger Jayce Pearson, Joel McCrea hunts an armed robber who targets couples in Lover's Lane in "Nighthawk" (originally aire...

Old time radio fans will recognize some of their favorite performers' voices popping up in classic Disney films, and today we'll hear three of those stars in radio mysteries. Before she was Cruella de Vil in  One Hundred and One Dalmatians , Betty Lou Gerson was a faded movie star who plans to marry into money in "The Girl Next Door" from  The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on August 20, 1947)....

Extra, extra! It's an above the fold bonus podcast where I share my favorite episodes of  Casey, Crime Photographer . Casey chases crooks and a great picture for the front page of his paper in these five radio mysteries. First, it's a case of mistaken and identity and murder in "The Red Raincoat" (originally aired on CBS on August 29, 1946) and a killer on the loose in "Death in Lover's Lane" (ori...

Children (and mystery fans) of all ages - join us this week for a quartet of old time radio capers set at the circus. First, a lion tamer is caught in a lethal love triangle in "Serenade Macabre" from  Crime Club (originally aired on Mutual on July 24, 1947). Next, Bob Bailey is hired to protect a trapeze artist who's receiving threats in "A Piece of Publicity" from  Let George Do It (originally a...

These spiritulaists can't really communicate with the world beyond our own, but they do manage to inspire a trio of old time radio mysteries where our detective heroes must contend with some mediums who aren't well done. First, Jeff Regan is hired to protect a psychic consultant in "The Man Who Lived by the Sea," (originally aired on CBS on December 18, 1948). Then, IRchard Diamond must expose a p...

To kick off 2024, we're hitting the road with three old time radio mysteries centered on cars. First,  Boston Blackie investigates a ring of car thieves after his girlfriend's wheels are swiped in a syndicated mystery starring Richard Kollmar. Next, the cops hunt a hit-and-run killer in  The Line-Up  (originally aired on CBS on August 3, 1950). Finally, Jack Webb is on the trail of a gang that str...

It's Christmas with  The Whistler as  Down These Mean Streets signs off for 2023! Radio's celebrated sinister storyteller - played by Bill Forman - narrates a quartet of mysteries set against a holiday backdrop. We'll hear "Christmas Bonus" (originally aired on CBS on December 25, 1944), "Letter from Cynthia" (originally aired on CBS on December 25, 1949), "Three Wise Guys" (originally aired on CB...

We need a little Christmas - and some Christmas mysteries! To celebrate the season, I'm sharing more of my favorite holiday adventures of old time radio detectives. Dr. Watson dresses as Santa and Sherlock Holmes thwarts a robbery in "The Night Before Christmas," with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in  The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (originally aired on Mutual on December 24, 1945). On  Cas...

It's a birthday month tribute to Oscar-nominated actor Sydney Greenstreet. He made his film debut as the heavy in  The Maltese Falcon , and he'd go on to appear in  Casablanca ,  Christmas in Connecticut , and many more. He also spent a year starring on radio as Rex Stout's "gargantuan gourmet," Nero Wolfe. We'll hear him as Wolfe in "The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds" (originally aired on NBC...

To some, it's just a pocketful of change, but in these three old time radio mysteries, coins play central parts in the crimes. First, Philip Marlowe hunts for a coin worth a cool $37,000 in "The Collector's Item" (originally aired on CBS on August 25, 1950). Then, Orson Welles tells how a single shilling was tied to a murder in a syndicated Scotland Yard story from The Black Museum . Finally, Bob...

Before the pre-holiday shopping weekend comes to a close, here's Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday in three authentic police histories from  Dragnet . First, Friday is on the trail of a kleptomaniac in "The Big Shoplift" (originally aired on NBC on October 11, 1951). Then, a safecracker eludes the police in "The Big Safe" (originally aired on NBC on May 1, 1952). Finally, a missing body complicates an...

Happy Thanksgiving! As you hit the road, catch a flight, or start prepping the bird, enjoy five old time radio Turkey Day mysteries. First,  Casey, Crime Photographer works to clear an ex-con framed for robbery in "After Turkey, the Bill" (originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1947). Then, Jack Webb encounters a modern-day Miles Standish and a turkey shoot more dangerous for man than bird in "Th...

We're going bananas this week with three old time radio mysteries featuring chimps along with clues and crimes. First, Philip Marlowe looks for an English butler who walks on his knuckles in "The Monkey's Uncle" (originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1950). Then, Simon Templar is saddled with a simian sidekick in "The Chiseling Chimpanzee" from The Saint (originally aired on NBC on December 10, 1950...

In this bonus show, I'm sharing my five favorite episodes of Frank Sinatra trading crooning for crimesolving in Rocky Fortune . Ol' Blue Eyes starred in this short-lived series as a "footloose and fancy-free young gentleman" bouncing from job to job and finding mystery and murder wherever he landed. We'll hear Mr. Fortune as a cruise ship steward in "The Shipboard Jewel Robbery" (originally aired...

The heat is on with three old time radio cases of arson. First,  Boston Blackie investigates a convoluted case of a love triangle, a torched building, and murder. Then, it's "The Case of the Arrogant Arsonist," an adventure from  Counterspy   (originally aired on ABC on September 16, 1949) that finds government agent David Harding hunting an ex-Nazi working as a firebug in the US of A. Finally, Jo...

Danger comes in pairs in this week's quartet old time radio mysteries involving identical twins and dopplegangers. First, a gangster uses a lookalike drifter to create an "Alibi for Murder" on  The  Mollé Mystery Theatre (originally aired on NBC on March 22, 1946). Next, a pair of twin foals leads to a plot to fix races in "The Big Gamble" from  The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on October 3,...

With Halloween only a few days away, the sleuthing turns spooky with old time radio mysteries involving mummies. First,  The Green Hornet discovers a murder in a museum, a missing ruby, and a sarcophagus crime scene in "Revenge for Melakim" (originally aired on ABC on June 15, 1944). Next, a fresh body is found in the place of a mummy in "Murder Makes a Mummy" from  Crime Club (originally aired on...

The moon is full, there's a chill in the air, and everything smells like pumpkin spice. It's time for the annual Down These Mean Streets spooktacular special! We're trick-or-treating through the golden age of radio with eight shows that will get you in the Halloween spirit. First, Orson Welles goes for a drive in "The Hitch-hiker" from  Suspense (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942), and...

Hold on to your wallets when you're around the smooth-talking con artists and swindlers in this week's show. Fortunately, some dogged radio detectives are also on hand to stop these scammers in their tracks. We'll hear "The Case of the Bookworm" from  Bunco Squad (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1952). Then, Sgt. Joe Friday tracks down a phony investment guru in "The Big Bunco" from  Dragnet...

It's time to match your powers of deduction against those of Ellery Queen and see if you can solve three baffling radio mysteries before he reveals the solutions. We'll hear the brilliant sleuth in "The Adventure of the Circus Train" (originally aired on NBC on March 28, 1943); "The Adventure of the Mischief Maker" (originally aired on NBC on January 15, 1944); and "The Three Frogs" (originally ai...

Ante up for three radio mysteries involving gamblers and the sometimes deadly bets they make. First, a pet shop owner is killed when he refuses to offer his store as a front for a gambling ring in  Boston Blackie . Then, a real-life Chicago reporter cracks the case of a poker game that ends in murder on  The Big Story (originally aired on NBC on April 4, 1951). And finally, Sgt. Joe Friday hunts f...

It's a concert of crime in this week's episode, as two radio detectives tackle cases in the music world. First, Simon Templar investigates when a pianist is shot and killed at the keys. Vincent Price stars in "A Sonata for Slayers" from  The Saint (originally aired on NBC on June 18, 1950). Then, Bob Bailey stars as Johnny Dollar in "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter," where "America's fabulous freelance...

Hercule Poirot - Agatha Christie's brilliant Belgian sleuth - is back on the big screen in  A Haunting in Venice . To celebrate his return, we'll hear three old time radio adventures of Poirot starring Harold Huber as the detective. We'll hear "Death in the Golden Gate" (originally aired on Mutual on May 17, 1945), "The Adventure of the Money Mad Ghoul" (originally aired on Mutual on September 13,...

Actor Alan Ladd was born 110 years ago this month, and we're celebrating his life and career with four of his old time radio appearances. He plays mystery writer and amateur gumshoe Dan Holiday in "Diamond in the Sky" and "The Professor and the Puzzle," a pair of syndicated adventures from  Box 13 . Plus, he recreates his big screen role (and reunites with Veronica Lake) in  The Blue Dahlia from ...