Episode 622 - Mysteries at the Movies (Jeff Regan, Richard Diamond, & Johnny Dollar)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Release Date: 04/13/2025
Episode 665 - Downbeat Pete (Pete Kelly’s Blues)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 cast that included Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. We’ll hear four episodes of the short-lived series: “Gus Trudeau” (originally aired on NBC on August 15, 1951); “Zelda” (originally...
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Episode 664 - Your Lyon Eyes (Jeff Regan, Investigator)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 radio mysteries: “The Lady with the Golden Hair” (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1948); “The Man in the Door” (originally aired on CBS on August 28, 1948); “The Man Who Fought...
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BONUS - Five Favorites: Dragnet
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 on April 17, 1952); “The Big Bull” (originally aired on NBC on September 14, 1952); and “The Big Little Mother” (originally aired on NBC on October 6, 1953).
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Episode 663 - Waterfront Webb (Pat Novak for Hire)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 ABC on February 20, 1949); “Fleet Lady” (originally aired on ABC on March 6, 1949); “John St. John” (originally aired on ABC on May 21, 1949); and “Agnes Bolton” (originally aired on...
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BONUS - Eggs and Bunnies (Nick Carter & Nero Wolfe)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 Brave Rabbit” from The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe (originally aired on NBC on December 1, 1950).
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Episode 662 - Statues for the Sleuths: Van Heflin (Philip Marlowe & Man Called X)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 - “Red Wind” (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947), “The King in Yellow” (originally aired on NBC on July 8, 1947), and “Robin and the Hood” (originally aired on NBC on August...
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BONUS - Play Ball! (Boston Blackie & The Saint)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 (originally aired on NBC on September 3, 1950).
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Episode 661 - Statues for the Sleuths: Edmond O’Brien (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
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 Richard Splain Matter” (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1950; “The Byron Hayes Matter” (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1951); “The Hatchet House Theft” (originally...
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Episode 660 - Statues for the Sleuths: Rex Harrison (Private Files of Rex Saunders)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Our month of Oscar-winning radio detectives continues with Rex Harrison, winner of the Best Actor prize for My Fair Lady and the debonair sleuth of The Private Files of Rex Saunders. We'll hear Rex as Rex in "When You Play a Game With Death" (audition recording from April 13, 1951), "A Shocking Still Life" (originally aired on NBC on May 9, 1951), "Diamonds Can Be Done to Death" (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1951), and "A Murder Deep in A Killer's Mind" (originally aired on NBC on June 20, 1951).
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Episode 659 - Statues for the Sleuths: Mercedes McCambridge (Defense Attorney)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Our series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars continues with Mercedes McCambridge, who took home the award as best supporting actress for her turn in All the King’s Men. Among her many radio credits was Defense Attorney, where she starred as Martha Ellis Bryant - who worked in and out of the courtroom (much like Perry Mason) to clear her clients. The show was a rare example of a radio detective show fronted by a woman, and it’s a highlight of the genre. We’ll hear Ms. McCambridge in four episodes: the series’ audition The Defense Rests from April 1951; “Mike Pelly” (originally...
info_outlineLights, camera, action! This week, our old time radio sleuths are tackling cases connected with the movie business and finding mystery on and off screen. First, "the Lyon's Eye" has to protect a movie star from some unscripted violence. Frank Graham stars in "The Hollywood Story, or H is for the Many Things You Gave Me" from Jeff Regan, Investigator (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1950). Next, Dick Powell goes west when the head of a movie studio is blackmailed - and later framed for murder - in "The Hollywood Story" from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on CBS on August 23, 1953). Finally, a corpse in a seaside amusement park is connected to a silent movie star and the long-ago murder of her husband in "The Silent Queen Matter" - a five-part Johnny Dollar mystery starring Bob Bailey as "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" (originally aired on CBS between October 29 and November 2, 1956).