Click on show of choice to go to download page and right click on the shows of choice and select 'save link as' or 'save target as'.
Some are in a zip file and will need a unzip program like WINRAR after downloading.
SHOWS REQUEST - If any old time radio show or series looking for, please leave a note on the questbook and will be happy to make it available if all possible.
NOTICE: I am in the on going process of updating all the content of these pages and will be moving to a central loacation. Currently removing dead links, updating shows, adding any additional episodes, and so on. As I complete a series, it will be moved to
Calfkiller OTR Download Archives
Some are from the Internet Archive where I have uploaded many shows and thanks to others who have contributed also. I am also uploading to other servers with the most complete and best quality of a series I find available. Hopefully this will be completed shortly as time permits. Will be adding zip files of most series also.
Please feel free to visit and monitor the progress if like, and if have any suggestions or comments feel free to leave a note.
Robert
OTR Downloads L - Z
The Lassie radio show was broadcast from 1947-1950. It first aired on ABC, then on NBC. Lassie played a different dog each week in different kinds of situations. The shows were 15 minutes.
Let George Do It was a radio drama series produced by Owen and Pauline Vinson from 1946 to 1954. It starred Bob Bailey as detective-for-hire George Valentine (with Olan Soule stepping into the role in 1954). Clients came to Valentine's office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad:
Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine.
Valentine's secretary was Claire Brooks, aka Brooksie (Frances Robinson, Virginia Gregg, Lillian Buyeff). As Valentine made his rounds in search of the bad guys, he usually encounted Brooksie's kid brother, Sonny (Eddie Firestone), Lieutenant Riley (Wally Maher) and elevator man Caleb (Joseph Kearns). Sponsored by Standard Oil, the program was broadcast on the West Coast Mutual Broadcasting System from October 18, 1946 to September 27, 1954, first on Friday evenings and then on Mondays. In its last season, transcriptions were aired in New York, Wednesdays at 9:30pm, from January 20, 1954 to January 12, 1955. John Hiestand was the program's announcer. Don Clark directed the scripts by David Victor and Jackson Gillis. The background music was supplied by Eddie Dunstedter on the organ.
Let's Pretend created and directed by Nila Mack (1891-1953), was a long-run CBS radio series for children. The forerunner of this program was The Adventures of Helen and Mary, scriipted by Yolanda Langworthy, which was broadcast on CBS Saturdays at noon and other late morning timeslots. The program began September 7, 1929, and after it had been airing for a year, Nila Mack took over as director. With Estelle Levy and Patricia Ryan in the title roles, the fairy tale series continued until March 17, 1934. Then the title changed to Let's Pretend, "radio's outstanding children's theater" The Peabody Award-winning Let's Pretend began March 24, 1934, running for two decades before the final show on October 23, 1954. Adaptations included such classics and fairy tales as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Arabian Nights, Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin. The show always began with a characteristic tune, sometimes with words, from its long time sponsor Cream of Wheat. George Bryan and Jackson Wheeler were the announcers. Jean Hight became the program's director after Nila Mack's death in 1953. 
The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, was a popular radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film and continued as a long-running television series during the 1950s. The show began as a proposed Groucho Marx radio series, The Flotsam Family, but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for the comedian. Then producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in the movie The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). The Flotsam Family was reworked with Bendix cast as blundering Chester A. Riley, riveter at a California aircraft plant, and his frequent exclamation of indignation---"What a revoltin' development this is!"---became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker."
Lightning Jim - Only about 41 Lightning Jim broadcasts have been located. The program originated in the 1940s and was called The Adventures of Lightning Jim. At this time it was a West coast program. The program returned to the air in the 1950s and a total of 98 radio programs were produced.
Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring "tales of the supernatural and the supernormal." It was immensely popular, and was one of the first horror programs, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. In its heydey, Lights Out rivalled the popularity of those shows. Lights Out ran through several series and networks, from January 1, 1934 to August 6, 1947. The principal sponsor was Ironized Yeast. Most episodes were broadcast at midnight. Lights Out then made the transition to television in 1949, where it was broadcast until 1952. Lights Out was created in Chicago by writer Wyllis Cooper in 1934, and the first series of shows (each 15 minutes long) ran on a local NBC station, WENR. By April 1934, the series was expanded to a half hour in length and moved to midnight Wednesdays. In January 1935, the show was discontinued in order to ease Cooper's workload (he was then writing scripts for the network's prestigious Immortal Dramas program), but was brought back by huge popular demand a few weeks later. After a successful tryout in New York City, the series was picked up by NBC in April 1935 and broadcast nationally, usually late at night and always on Wednesdays. Cooper stayed on the program until June 1936, when another Chicago writer, Arch Oboler, took over. By the time Cooper left, the series had inspired about 600 fan clubs.
Lights Out - 01 02 03 04 05 Listen
The Line Up was a realistic police drama that gave radio audiences a hard look behind the scenes of police headquarters in "a great American city." Bill Johnstone played Lt. Ben Guthrie, a quiet, mild-mannered police detective. Sgt. Matt Grebb (Joseph Kearns) supervised the lineup and often accompanied Guthrie on many of his gripping investigations.
Log Cabin Jamboree aired on NBC during the 1937-38 season, sponsored by Log Cabin syrup. The show starred Jack Haley. The cast included Wendie Barrie and Virginia Verrill with Ted Fioretto & His Orchestra providing the music. Actress Wendy Barrie appeared regular, along with comedian Jack Oakie. Warren Hull was the announcer. On October 14, 1938, Wonder Bread became the sponcer and as a result became known as The Wonder Show.
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone was a very short series and aired only from February 23 through June 15, 1958, discontinued after only 16 broadcasts. Sam Buffington enacted the title role on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, another of CBS's prestigious adult Westerns. The series was produced and directed by William N. Robson, one of radio's greatest dramatic directors and Robert Stanley producer was aired from February 23 through June 15, 1958. Buffington portrayed the hard-boiled cattleman with scripts overseen by Gunsmoke sound effects artist (and sometimes scriptwriter) Tom Hanley. Each program had an authoritative opening statement: "Slaughter's my name, Luke Slaughter. Cattle's my business. It's a tough business, it's a big business. I got a big stake in it. And there's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to take it away from me." Junius Matthews was heard as Slaughter's sidekick, Wichita. I think the show was cut short to quick, because it is a very entertaing adult western show.
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone Listen
Lum and Abner an American radio comedy which aired as a network program from 1932 to 1954, became an American institution in its low-keyed, arch rural wit. Stars Chester Lauck (who played Columbus "Lum" Edwards) and Norris Goff (Abner Peabody). One of a series of 15-minute serial comedies that dotted American radio at its height as America's number one home entertainment. As the co-owners of the Jot 'em Down Store in the then-fictional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas, they were always stumbling upon moneymaking ideas only to get themselves fleeced by nemesis Squire Skimp, before finding one or another way to redeem themselves, Lum and Abner played the hillbilly theme with deceptive cleverness: The hillbillies just knew the slickers were going to get theirs, sooner or later, and either didn't mind or knew more than they let on that the slickers getting theirs was a matter of fortunate circumstance
Lum and Abner 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Listen
Lux Radio Theater, one of the genuine classic radio anthology series (NBC Blue Network (1934-1935); CBS (1935-1954); NBC (1954-1955)) adapted first Broadway stage works, and then (especially) films to hour-long live radio presentations. It quickly became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, running more than twenty years. The program always began with an announcer proclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lux presents Hollywood!" Cecil B. DeMille was the host of the series each Monday evening from June 1, 1936, until January 22, 1945. On one occasion, however, he was replaced by Leslie Howard. Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance to do the show. It was when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York to Hollywood in 1936 that it eased back from adapting stage shows and toward adaptations of films. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell. Many of the greatest names in film appeared in the series, most in the roles they made famous on the screen, including Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Joseph Cotton, Bing Crosby, Dan Duryea, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Vivien Leigh, Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ann Sothern, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Gene Tierney, John Wayne, Jane Wyman, Orson Welles and Loretta Young..
LUX - 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 Listen
Matinee Theater aired in 1944 on Sundays 2:00 - 2:30 pm. sponcered by Vicks, the makers of Vicks Vapor Rub starring Victor Jory, directed by Richard Sanville and written by Jean Holloway. It evolved from from the old time radio series "DANGEROUSLY YOURS". The stories consisted of drama, love stories, and adventure tales, done really well.
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The Marriage was a light affair, distinguished mainly as a vehicle for Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Cronyn's character, Ben Marriott, was a New York lawyer. His wife, Liz, had formerly been a buyer in a New York department store. Often plots revolved around her attempt to adjust to life as "just a housewife", or focused on problems with their children. They alternated viewpoints, Cronyn narrating one week, Tandy the next. The Marriage, broadcast on the NBC network Sunday nights at 7:30 pm from October 4, 1953 until March 28, 1954 was based on the play The Four Poster which Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy had previously appeared on Broadway. (From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group)
Michael Shayne, was a popular detective created by American crime novelist Brett Haliday. Mike stormed into Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and with an attitude.
The Milton Berle Show - Milton Berle (July 12, 1908 - March 27, 2002) was an American comedian who was born Milton Berlinger according to his birth certificate. The Milton Berle Show brought Berle together with Arnold Stang, later a familiar face as Berle's TV sidekick. Others in the cast were Pert Kelton, Mary Schipp, Jack Albertson, Arthur Q. Bryan, Ed Begley, and announcer Frank Gallop. Sponsored by Philip Morris, it aired on NBC from March 11, 1947, until April 13, 1948.
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Mind Webs was a 1970's series out of WHA Radio in Wisconsin that featured weekly short stories of science fiction by some of the genre's best writers. The music, sound cues and occasional character voices along with the performance of Michael Hansen, the reader, resulted in better than most fully dramatized productions of the period. Around 150 shows were aired between 1976 and 1984 varing in length, but most were about 30 minuets.
Mister Predident aired on ABC Thursdays 9:30 - 10:00 p.m. Starred Edward Arnold, Betty Lou Gerson and William Conrad. The announcer was Owen James, Producer and director was Dick Woolen. The scripts were by Jean Holloway and Bernard Dougall with music by Basil Adlam.
The Molle Mystery Theater - September 7th, 1943 - June 25th, 1948 NBC. 30m, Tuesdays at 9:00pm until July 3rd, 1945. Fridays at 10:00pm thereafter. Molle Shave Cream Cast included Bernard Lenrow as Goffrey Barnes, Richard Widmark, Joseph Julian, Elspeth Eric, Frank Lovejoy, Anne Seymour, Raymond Edward Johnson. The announcer was Dan Seymour on orchestra Alexander Semmler and the writer was Joseph Ruscoll.
The Molle Mystery Theater Listen
Mother's Best Flour Show featuring Hank Williams - Hiram "Hank" King Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter who has also become an icon of country music and rock 'n' roll, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. A leading exponent of the honky tonk style, he had numerous hit records, and his charismatic performances and succinct compositions increased his fame. His songbook is one of the backbones of country music, and several are pop standards as well. He has been covered in a range of pop, gospel, and rock styles. View Log
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My Favorite Husband began as a radio sitcom on CBS Radio. The show starred Lucille Ball and Richard Denning as Liz and George Cooper (Liz and George Cugat in early episodes). The couple lived at 321 Bundy Drive in the ficticious city of Sheridan Falls, and were billed as "two people who live together and like it." The main sponsor was Jell-O, and an average of 3 "plugs" for Jell-O were made in each episode. The program ran from 1948 through 1951, throughout which 124 episodes were aired. The program initially portrayed the couple as being a well-to-do banker and his socially prominent wife. Shortly into the show's run, three new writers, Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and Jess Oppenheimer took over the scripting tasks, and the characterization of the couple was altered somewhat. Along with the change of the couple's last name to Cooper, the couple was also portrayed as being more middle-class, and thus more accessible to the average listener. When Lucille Ball was asked to do a television version of the show (with Jell-O remaining as sponsor), CBS insisted on Richard Denning continuing as her co-star. However, she said that she would not do a husband-and-wife sitcom without her real-life husband Desi Arnaz being the husband. The network reluctantly agreed to this (thus reworking the concept into "I Love Lucy"), but Jell-O dropped out. However the three radio writers did agree to do the switch to the "I Love Lucy" show. Many of the "My Favorite Husband" radio episodes were subsequently reworked into I Love Lucy episodes, especially early in the TV show's run. For example, the 1948 radio episode entitled "Quiz Show" inspired the I Love Lucy episode called "Redecorating," with some lines being exactly the same. Many of the actors who had done the "My Favorite Husband" radio show also appeared on "I Love Lucy", sometimes in episodes where they reprised their roles using a reworked "Husband" script.
Complete Series
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My Friend Irma, created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard, was a top-rated, long-run radio situation comedy, so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated to films and television, while Howard scored with another radio comedy hit, Life with Luigi. Dependable and level-headed Jane Stacy (Cathy Lewis) narrated the misadventures of her innocent and bewildered roommate, Irma Peterson (Marie Wilson), a dim-bulb stenographer. Wilson portrayed the character on radio, in two films and a TV series. The successful radio series with Marie Wilson ran on CBS Radio from April 11, 1947 to August 23, 1954. The TV version, seen on CBS from January 8, 1952 until June 25, 1954, was the first series telecast from the CBS Television City facility in Hollywood. The movie My Friend Irma (1949) starred Marie Wilson and Diana Lynn but is mainly remembered today for introducing Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to moviegoers, resulting in even more screen time for Martin and Lewis in the sequel, My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).
Mr Keen Tracer of lost persons Zip Download
NBC: Celebrity Cavalcade Of Spectacular Variety Show
NBC - Recollections At 30 Special Series Celebrating NBC's 30th year of broadcasting. Excellent programs chronicling the history of radio through NBC's vast library of shows dating back to 1926.
NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER - In 1944, NBC brought WORLD'S GREAT NOVELS to radio, offering high quality adaptations of some of the great works of literature. Some colleges offered college credit in conjunction with the radio broadcasts. In 1948, the series was re-titled NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER OF THE AIR and production was moved to Hollywood. The first broadcast of the new series aired July 30, 1948. These adaptations were again of high quality and again colleges offered credit in conjunction with the broadcasts. In 1948, the Peabody was awarded to the NBC University Theatre for "an hour's dramatization of some of our finest novels and short stories... launched as an experiment in July, 1948." Unfortunately, the "University" in the title kept listeners away for fear of the shows being to "high brow". NBC attempted to change this view by removing the "University" from the title for a short time. For the time that it was on the air, there were frequent day of the week, time of day and even program length changes. Despite the lack of broadcast consistency, the shows were consistent in its level of quality. Long after the demise of regularly scheduled dramatic radio in the United States, these shows were still being heard in school classrooms across the nation. If you've ever desired to read the classics but can't seem to find the time, these shows are a great alternative.
The New Swan Show originally broadcast on NBC Radio November 7, 1948 starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Doris Day
Nick Carter, Master Detective - Nick Carter is the name of a popular fictional detective who first appeared in in a dime novel entitled "The Old Detective's Pupil" on September 18, 1886. In 1915, Nick Carter Weekly became Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer. The series ended on September 25, 1955. Chick Carter, Boy Detective was a serial adventure that aired weekday afternoons on Mutual. Chick Carter, the adopted son of Nick Carter, was played by Bill Lipton (1943-44) and Leon Janney (1944-45). The series aired from July 5, 1943 to July 6, 1945.
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NIGHTBEAT was a radio drama series that aired on NBC from February 6, 1950 until September 25, 1952, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and Wheaties. Frank Lovejoy starred as Randy Stone, a reporter who covered the "nightbeat" in Chicago for the Chicago Star, encountering criminals and troubled souls. Listeners were invited to join Randy Stone as he "searches through the city for the strange stories waiting for him in the darkness." The scripts were excellent, given that they had to pack in a lot in a short time, and there was a good supporting cast, orchestra, and sound effects.
Nightfall is the title of a radio drama series produced and aired by CBC Radio ( Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ) from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. One episode was even adapted from a folk song by Stan Rogers. Some of Nightfall's episodes were so terrifying that the CBC registered numerous complaints and some affiliate stations dropped it. Despite this, the series went on to become one of the most popular shows in CBC Radio history, running 100 episodes that featured a mix of original tales and adaptations of both classic and obscure short stories.
![[Night+Watch.jpg]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H_2edGj3TUM/SK3k3nTQcII/AAAAAAAAAHs/cqXkmtyC7Yw/s1600/Night%2BWatch.jpg)
NIGHT WATCH - CBS brought NIGHT WATCH to the air for its short run on April 2, 1954 to Apr 21, 1955. NIGHT WATCH was the first show to bring live police drama to the air. Police Reporter Don Reed accompanied Officer Ron Perkins, bringing with him a tape recorder to capture the action. Don Reed actually carried a dry-cell powered reel to reel tape machine on his back and had a concealed microphone inside a flashlight casing. Reed went on to be one of the first traffic helicopter reporters, and Perkins eventually was elected Mayor of Culver City.
Our Miss Brooks, an American situation comedy, starred Eve Arden as a sardonic high school English teacher. It began as a radio show which lasted from 1948 to 1957, migrating to television (1952-1956) and becoming one of the still-new medium's earliest hits. Our Miss Brooks was a hit on radio from the outset; within eight months of its launch as a regular series, the show landed several honours including four for Eve Arden, who won polls in four individual publications of the time. Arden had actually been the third choice to play the title role. Harry Ackerman, at the time CBS's West Coast director of programming, wanted Shirley Booth for the part, but as he told historian Gerald Nachman many years later, he realised Booth was too focused on the underpaid downside of public school teaching at the time to have fun with the role. Lucille Ball was believed to be the next choice but she was committed already to My Favorite Husband and didn't audition. Then CBS chairman Bill Paley, who was friendly with Arden, persuaded her to audition for the part. With a slightly rewritten audition script---Osgood Conklin, for example, was originally written as a school board president but was now written as the incoming new Madison principal---Arden agreed to give the newly-revamped show a try. Produced by Larry Berns and written by Al Lewis (who also directed the show), Our Miss Brooks premiered on CBS on July 19th, 1948. According to radio critic John Crosby, her lines were very "feline" in dialogic scenes with principal Conklin and would-be boyfriend Boynton, with sharp, witty comebacks. The interplay between the cast---blustery Conklin, nebbish Denton, accommodating Harriet, absentminded Mrs. Davis, clueless Boynton, scheming Miss Enright---also received positive reviews. For its entire radio life, the show was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive-Peet (later shortened, simply, to Colgate-Palmolive), promoting Palmolive soap, Lustre Creme shampoo, and Toni hair care products. The radio series continued until 1957, a year after its television life ended.
Pat Novak for Hire was an old-time radio detective show which aired from 1946-1947 as a West Coast regional program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC. The regional version starred Ben Morris in the title role, while the later version featured Jack Webb as Novak. The series is popular among fans for its fast-paced, hard-boiled dialogue and action and witty one-liners. Pat Novak for Hire is set on the San Francisco, California waterfront and depicts the city as a dark, rough place where the main goal is survival. Pat Novak is not a detective by trade. He owns a boat shop on Pier 19 where he rents out boats and does odd jobs to make money. Each episode of the program, particularly the Jack Webb episodes, follows the same basic formula. A foghorn sounds and Novak's footsteps are heard walking down the pier. He pauses and begins with the line "Sure, I'm Pat Novak . . . for hire". The foghorn repeats and leads to the intro theme, during which Pat gives a monologue about the waterfront and his job renting boats. He then introduces the trouble in which he finds himself this week. Typically, a person unknown to Pat asks him to do an unusual or risky job. Pat reluctantly accepts and finds himself in hot water in the form of an unexplained dead body. Police Inspector Hellman (played by Raymond Burr) arrives on the scene and pins the murder on Novak. With only circumstantial evidence to go on, Hellman promises to haul Novak in the next day for the crime. Pat uses the time to try to solve the case. He looks up his friend Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owen), a drunken ex-doctor typically found at some local watering hole, to help him solve the case. Jocko and Pat unravel the case and Hellman makes the arrest. Finally, we hear the foghorn and Novak's footsteps on the pier again before Novak spells out the details of the case for us. At the end, Novak informs us that "Hellman asked only one question," which Pat answers with a clever retort.
Pat O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys - Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (March 11, 1890 - May 11, 1969) was a radio personality and a Democratic Party politician from Texas. O'Daniel was born in Malta, Ohio, and as a young child moved to Reno County, Kansas. He worked in the flour milling business and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1925 to work for Burrus Mills. O'Daniel soon took over its radio advertising, wrote songs, and hired a group of musicians. His band was originally called the Light Crust Doughboys. Notable musicians such as Bob Wills got their start with O'Daniel. After the Doughboys split up, O'Daniel formed the Western Swing band Pappy O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys. The new group was named after O'Daniel's Hillbilly Flour Company. The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? featured a character named "Pappy" O'Daniel, loosely based on the real O'Daniel. The film's character was played by Charles Durning. View Log
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Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show is an old-time radio situation comedy which ran from 1948 to 1954 on the NBC radio network. Evolving from their earlier variety show, The Fitch Bandwagon, the show starred singer-bandleader Phil Harris and his wife, actress-singer Alice Faye---both of whom proved excellent comedians---playing slightly fictionalized versions of themselves as a working radio and musical couple raising two young daughters in a slightly madcap home. The program was sponsored first by the Rexall drug company and, after a period of self-sustainment, RCA Victor.
Phil Harris-Alice Faye - 1946-1948 1949 1950 1951-1953 Listen
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 & Molly. The audition program featured radio veteran Gale Gordon (then co-starring in Our Miss Brooks) and Edna Best in the roles that ultimately went to British husband-and-wife actors Ronald Colman and Benita Hume. The Colmans had shown a flair for radio comedy in recurring roles on The Jack Benny Program in the late 1940s, and they landed the title roles in the new show. The Halls of Ivy featured Colman as William Todhunter Hall, the president of small, Midwestern Ivy College, and his wife, Victoria, a former British musical comedy star who sometimes felt the tug of her former profession, and followed their interactions with students, friends and college trustees. Others in the cast included Herbert Butterfield as testy Clarence Wellman, Willard Waterman (then starring as Harold Peary's successor as The Great Gildersleeve) as John Merriweather, and Elizabeth Patterson and Gloria Gordon as the Halls' maid.
Philo Vance was the detective creation of S. S. Van Dine first published in the mid 1920s. Vance, in the original books, is an intellectual so highly refined he seems he might be ghostwritten by P. G. Wodehouse. Take this quote from The Benson Murder Case, 1924, as Vance pontificates in his inimitable way: "That's your fundamental error, don't y' know. Every crime is witnessed by outsiders, just as is every work of art. The fact that no one sees the criminal, or the artist, actu'lly at work, is wholly incons'quential." Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. Jose Ferrer played him in 1945. From 1948-1950, the fine radio actor Jackson Beck makes Vance as good as he gets. George Petrie plays Vance's constantly impressed public servant, District Attorney Markham. Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman. The organist for the show is really working those ivories, and fans of old time radio organ will especially enjoy this series. Perhaps one reason the organist "pulls out all the stops" is because there seems to be little, if any, sound effects on the show. Philo Vance, the radio series, does pay homage to the original books in that both were, even in their own time, a bit out of date and stilted. (OTRR)
PLANET MAN - Produced in about 1950 by Palladium Radio Productions, The Planet Man is the golly-gee-whillikers saga of Dantro, an intergalactic troubleshooter for an organization known as the League of Planets: "the law enforcement body for peace and justice in the celestial world". (Think of him as an outer-space version of Marshal Matt Dillon: "It's a chancy job, and it makes a [planet] man watchful...") With their center of operations situated on Planeria Rex, "the capital of the planets", the League sends their water-carrier Dantro out into the celestial world to maintain law and order "whenever danger threatens the universe". Dantro is assisted in his quest for law-and-order by the members of Earth's first rocket expedition: Dr. John Darrow, his daughter Pat, and engineer Slats, who are rescued by the Planet Man before their rocket comes perilously close to crashing into the moon. (The explanation for this is that Darrow and crew took on a pair of stowaways before blast-off, namely his nephew Billy and niece Jane -- which makes a listener wonder why the heck they weren't in school.) These five individuals join forces with the Planet Man to defeat evildoers like Marston, the ruler of Mars who possesses an insatiable appetite for interplanetary domination. Background on The Planet Man is sketchy at best -- even with the original disks close at hand. Various sources date its syndicated run around 1952-53, but specific airdate information remains unknown. Palladium transcribed a total of 78 15-minute episodes for afternoon strip, with 76 episodes extant today.
Police Headquarters is a rare crime radio drama, lasted for about 12-15 minutes, was syndicated to radio stations. The series aired on NBC stations in 1932. The series consists of 39 shows. An interesting example of shows of the early thirties, this series set a pattern that can be seen later in the police series of the 40's and 50's, like DRAGNET. Unlike many of the syndicated series of the period, each show is a complete story. As you can imagine, detailing and solving the case in 12 to 15 minutes and still make each story interesting is a bit of a challange. For the most part, the shows manage this fine.. The police in the drama would investigate a murder, a bank robbery, and etc. finding who did it, and ends up finding the real criminals accused of crimes. The series offers an interesting view of police work in its time period.
Ports of Call - An obscure series from 1935 or 1936 in which each episode deals with a voyage to a different country where events of that country's history are dramatized. They each begin with the low moan of a tramp steamer's whistle and the announcement of the series title, followed by a musical interlude.
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Quiet, Please! was an old-time radio fantasy and horror program created by Wyllis Cooper, also known for creating Lights Out. Ernest Chappell was the show's announcer and lead actor. Quiet, Please! was first broadcast by ABC on June 8, 1947, and its last episode ran on June 25, 1949. A total of 106 shows were broadcast, with only a very few of them repeats. Earning relatively little notice during its initial run, Quiet, Please! has since been praised as one of the finest efforts of the golden age of American radio drama. Professor Richard J. Hand of the University of Glamorgan (author of probably the most detailed critical analysis of the series) argues that with Quiet, Please, Cooper and Chappell "created works of astonishing originality"; he further describes the program as an "extraordinary body of work", which established Cooper "as one of the greatest auteurs of horror radio."
Red Ryder radio series began February 3, 1942, on the Blue Network, broadcast three times a week at 7:30pm Pacific time. When the Blue also acquired The Lone Ranger from the Mutual Broadcasting System, Mutual decided to compete by airing Red Ryder in the same time period. Thus, Red Ryder aired on the East Coast that year from May 20 to September 9 on Mutual. The series actually beat The Lone Ranger in the Hooper ratings, but the success was short-lived. When Red Ryder was sold to a regional sponsor, Langendorf Bread, it was no longer heard in the East after four months. Mutual and Langendorf continued the series on the West Coast Don Lee Network through the 1940s at 7:30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, always with the familiar organ theme, "The Dying Cowboy" ("Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"). Announcers on the show included Ben Alexander and Art Gilmore. The continuing characters of the comic strip were also found in the radio series, produced by Brad Brown with writer-director Paul Franklin and writer Albert Van Antwerp. Reed Hadley portrayed Red Ryder on radio from 1942 to 1944, followed by Carlton KaDell (1945) and Brooke Temple (1946-51). Arthur Q. Bryan had the role of Roland "Rawhie" Rolinson, and Red's sidekick Buckskin was played by Horace Murphy. Jim Mather provided Indian voices. Numerous actors played Little Beaver: Tommy Cook (1942 on), Franklin Bresee (1942-46, alternating with Cook), Henry Blair (1944-47), Johnny McGovern (1947-50) and Sammy Ogg (1950-51). During the same mid-1940s time frame, Henry Blair also portrayed Ricky Nelson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Although billed as "America's famous fighting cowboy," Red Ryder was notable because he usually did not kill his enemies but instead aimed for the hand to disarm them. Such sound effects were handled by James Dick, Monty Fraser and Bob Turnbull.
The Red Skelton Show - Born Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, clubs and casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter.After 1937 appearances on The Rudy Vallee Show, Skelton became a regular in 1939 on NBC's Avalon Time, sponsored by Avalon Cigarettes. On October 7, 1941, Skelton premiered his own radio show, The Raleigh Cigarette Program, developing routines involving a number of recurring characters, including punch-drunk boxer Cauliflower McPugg, inebriated Willie Lump-Lump and "mean widdle kid" Junior, whose favorite phrase ("I dood it!") became part of the American lexicon. There was con man San Fernando Red with his pair of crosseyed seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliffe, and singing cabdriver Clem Kadiddlehopper, a country bumpkin with a big heart and a slow wit. Clem had an unintentional knack for upstaging high society slickers, even if he couldn't manipulate his cynical father: "When the stork brought you, Clem, I shoulda shot him on sight!" Skelton also helped sell WWII war bonds on the top-rated show, which featured Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in the supporting cast, plus the Ozzie Nelson Orchestra and announcer Truman Bradley. Harriet Nelson was the show's vocalist. Skelton was drafted in March 1944, and the popular series was discontinued June 6, 1944. Shipped overseas to serve with an Army entertainment unit as a private, Skelton had a nervous breakdown in Italy, spent three months in a hospital and was discharged in September, 1945. He once joked about his military career, "I was the only celebrity who went in and came out a private." On December 4, 1945, The Raleigh Cigarette Program resumed where it left off with Skelton introducing some new characters, including Bolivar Shagnasty and J. Newton Numbskull. Lurene Tuttle and Verna Felton appeared as Junior's mother and grandmother. David Forrester and David Rose led the orchestra, featuring vocalist Anita Ellis. The announcers were Pat McGeehan and Rod O'Connor. The series ended May 20, 1949, and that fall he moved to CBS.
The Red Skelton Show - 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 Listen
Richard Diamond, Private Detective was a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960. Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his girlfriend, Helen. It began on NBC April 24, 1949, picked up Rexall as a sponsor April 5, 1950, and continued until December 6, 1950. The shows were written by Blake Edwards. With Camel as a sponsor, it moved to ABC from January 5, 1951, to June 29, 1951, with Rexall returning for a run from October 5, 1951, until June 27, 1952. Substituting for Amos 'n' Andy, it aired Sunday evenings on CBS from May 31, 1953 until September 20, 1953. Because Dick Powell was known for musical comedies prior to his appearance as Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler's Murder, My Sweet (1944) and because he was a detective who sang in Richard Diamond, Private Eye, some regard this radio series as an influence on the character of Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) in Dennis Potter's Chandleresque The Singing Detective (1986).
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Ripleys, Believe It Or Not - In April 1930, Ripley brought "Believe It or Not" to radio, the first of several series heard on NBC, CBS and the Mutual Broadcasting System. As noted by Ripley On Radio, Ripley's broadcasts varied in length from 15 minutes to 30 minutes and aired in numerous different formats. When Ripley's 1930 debut on The Collier Hour brought a strong listener reaction, he was given a Monday night NBC series beginning April 14, 1930, followed by a 1931-32 series airing twice a week. After his strange stories were dramatized on NBC's Saturday Party, Ripley was the host of The Baker's Broadcast from 1935 to 1937. He was scheduled in several different 1937-38 NBC timeslots and then took to the road with popular remote broadcasts. See America First with Bob Ripley (1939-40) on CBS expanded geographically into See All the Americas, a 1942 program with Latin music. In 1944, he was heard five nights a week on Mutual in shows with an emphasis on WWII. Romance, Rhythm and Ripley aired on CBS in 1945, followed by Pages from Robert L. Ripley's Radio Scrapbook (1947-48). Ripley is known for several radio firsts. He was the first to broadcast nationwide on a radio network from mid-ocean, and he also participated in the first broadcast from Buenos Aires to New York. Assisted by a corps of translators, he was the first to broadcast to every nation in the world simultaneously. As the years went on, the show became less about oddities and featured guest-driven entertainment such as comedy routines. Sponsors over the course of the program included Pall Mall cigarettes and General Foods. The program ended its successful run in 1948 as Ripley prepared to convert the show format to television syndication.
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ROCKY FORTUNE - In the days prior to From Here To Eternity, Frank Sinatra's popularity was waning and this private eye show was an attempt to remedy that. In it, Frank played ROCKY FORTUNE, a "footloose and fancy-free young man," frequently unemployed, who took numerous, adventurous odd jobs. It was a relatively undistinguished series; definitely a "B grade" radio series, saved by Sinatra's charm and a tongue-in-cheek approach. Employed or not, Rocky possesed a variety of skills. During the course of the series, he worked as a process server, museum tour guide, cabbie, bodyguard, chauffeur, truck driver, social director for a Catskills resort and a carny. He could also fake enough bass to play at weddings and bar-mitzvahs. For most of the series, Rocky received his job assignments from the Gridley Employment Agency, usually referred to as just "the agency". The only recurring character, throughout the series, besides Rocky himself, is the long-suffering Sergeant Hamilton J. Finger - a solid, although not-too-bright cop who works out of what is frequently referred to as "the Irish clubhouse," who seemed to be constantly running into Rocky, whether he wanted to or not. At about the same time, November 10, 1953 to July 9, 1954, Sinatra also starred in a musical show on NBC called To Be Perfectly Frank. And, no matter how you look at it, Rocky Fortune was really just another chance for the ever-ambitious Sinatra to be himself, and to promote his career. "From Here To Eternity" had opened that August, and Sinatra used the series to promote the film (and his Oscar nomination). As the series wound to a close and the date of the Academy Awards presentation drew near, it became a running gag that Rocky seemed to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into almost every show. Fortunately for his career, his Oscar for his role in Eternity came and rescued him from all this. (From www.thrillingdetective.com)
Rocky Jordan was the owner of the Cafe Tambourine and was the main character in a radio series featuring a more exotic background than found in other radio detective series, first in Istanbul and later in Cairo. A 30-minute weekly series called simply ROCKY JORDAN, also starring Jack Moyles, was heard only on the West Coast starting in October of 1948, running until September of 1950. George Raft took over the role of Jordon for two Summer series in 1951 and 1952, airing nationwide. Raft continued in the lead role for one regular season in 1952 and 1953. Two auditions were done in 1955 for a possible series, again to star Jack Moyles, but no new series was produced.
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Rogue's Gallery came to the Mutual network on September 27, 1945 with Dick Powell portraying Richard Rogue, a private detective who invariably ended up getting knocked out each week and spending his dream time in acerbic conversation with his subconscious self, Eugor. Rogue's Gallery was, in a sense, Dick Powell's rehearsal for Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Powell played private detective Richard Rogue, who trailed luscious blondes, protected witness, and did whatever else detectives do to make a living. It was a good series, though not destined to make much of a mark. Under the capable direction of Dee Englebach and accompanied by the music of Leith Stevens, Powell floated through his lines with the help of such competents as Lou Merrill, Gerald Mohr, Gloria Blondell, Tony Barrett, and Lurene Tuttle. Peter Leeds played Rogue's friend Eugor, an obscure play on names with Eugor spelling Rogue backwards. The gimmick in Rogue's Gallery was the presence of an alter ego, "Eugor," who arrived in the middle of the show to give Rogue enough information for his final deduction. Eugor was a state of mind, achieved when Rogue was knocked unconcious. Eugor would appear cackling like the host of Hermit's Cave and imparted some vital information the hero had overlooked. Rogue would then awaken with a vague idea of what to do next. Rogue's Gallery also starred different actors as Rogue, in later incarnations of the series, but Richard Powell was the most popular. This series preceded Richard Powell's most famous series, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Rogue trailed lovely blondes and protected witnesses in the new tough guy persona of Dick Powell. This was the transition series for Powell in his quest to be recognized as an actor rather than a singer. It had some of the same cute elements that would make Richard Diamond a high spot four years later. During the summer of 1946, the show was billed as Bandwagon Mysteries, with a tip of the hat to the sponsor. In the summer of 1947, it was again revived on NBC Sundays for Fitch, with Barry Sullivan in the title role. In 1950 the character again turned up in a two-year sustainer on the ABC Wednesday-night schedule. Chester Morris played the lead. Chester Morris was the original Boston Blackie. (From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group)
Romance Of The Ranchos An excellent, fairly accurate and well done account of the early history of Southern California as obtained from the
sponsor's title records. Stars Frank Graham as "THE WANDERING VACARO".
Rotary Golden Theater Listen (Rotary Golden Theater Zip)
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the French Revolution. It was first produced as a record-breaking play in an adaptation by Julia Neilson and Fred Terry. The play first opened on 15 October 1903 at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal; it was not a success. But Terry had confidence in the play and, with a re-written last act, he took it to London where at the New Theatre on 5 January 1905 it began a run of 122 performances and numerous revivals. The novel became a runaway bestseller and Fred Terry had a hit, playing the Pimpernel for the rest of his life, on and off. On radio, transcribed in London in 1952 for the Towers of London. Sold to NBC as a summer replacement for The Cavalcade of America July 1- Aug 19, 1952 30m, Tuesdays at 8:00pm. - September 21st, 1952 - September 20th, 1953 30m, Sundays at 6:00pm. The action takes place during the French Revolution, when a secret society of English aristocrats, called the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, is engaged in rescuing their French counterparts from the guillotine. Their leader, the Scarlet Pimpernel, takes his nickname from the small red flower with which he signs his messages. No one except his small band of 19 followers, and possibly the Prince of Wales, knows his true identity. Stars Marius Goring as Sir Percy Blakeney.
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Duke DeMontreu Daughter Escape
Screen Director's Playhouse was a popular radio anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio programs broadcast adaptations of films, and original directors of the films were sometimes involved in the productions. The series later had a brief run on television. he radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949 to September 28, 1951 under several different titles: NBC Theater, Screen Director's Guild Assignment, Screen Director's Assignment and Screen Director's Playhouse.
Actors on the radio series included Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, James Mason, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Loretta Young.
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The Sealtest Variety Theater aired on Thursday nights at 9:30, it was a variety comedy show with glamorous Dorothy Lamour as hostess. Also with Eddie Bracken and Frank Nelson.
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Sky King was a 1940s and 1950s American radio and television adventure series featuring Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler (or Skyler) "Sky" King. Although it had strong cowboy show elements, King always captured criminals and even spies as well as finding lost hikers using his plane. King's personal plane was called the Songbird. Though he changed from one plane to another over the course of the show, the later plane was not given a number but was simply known as Songbird. The radio show, based on a radio story by Roy Winsor, was the brainchild of Robert Morris Burtt and Wilfred Gibbs Moore, who also created Captain Midnight, first aired in 1946. Several actors played the part of Sky, including Earl Nightingale and John Reed King. Like many radio shows of the day there were many "premiums" offered to listeners. On November 2, 1947 in the episode titled "Mountain Detour" the Sky King Secret Signalscope was used. Listeners were advised to get their own for only 15 cents and the inner seal from a jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter. The Signalscope included a glow-in-the-dark signaling device, whistle, magnifying glass and Sky King's private code. With the Signalscope you could also see around corners and trees! The radio show ran until 1954, being aired simultaneously with the television version.
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Speed Gibson Of The International Secret Police
Sports Shows
New York Yankees vs Detroit Tigers (September 20, 1934) Listen
Chicago Cubs vs Chicago White Sox (October 2, 1936) Listen
Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees (October 2, 1949) Listen
Joe Louis - Boxing Matches (September 24, 1935) Listen
1957 NFL Championship Game Listen
1954-09-29 World Series - Game 1 (September 29, 1954)
1956-07-10 MLB All Star Game (July 10, 1956)
NYY vs BOSTON (October 1, 1961)
1949 World Series : New York Yankees vs Brooklyn Dodgers Listen
New York Mets vs St. Louis Cardinals - 1962-04-11 (April 11, 1962) Listen
1951 National League Championship Game Listen
1957-08-31 - New York Giants Vs Brooklyn Dodgers (August 31, 1957) Listen
1936 World Series - Giants Vs Yankees Game 3 (October 3, 1936) Listen
1938 World Series - NYY vs Chicago
World Series : 1948 Boston vs Cleveland (October 10, 1948) Listen
Five Classic Baseball Games (September 29, 1954) Listen
Spy Catcher
STUDIO ONE, a drama anthology, which first aired Tuesday, April 29, 1947, at 9:00 over CBS stations. It brought hour-long presentations of books and plays to radio, many of which had not been attempted before. Fletcher Markle, a CBC radio veteran, produced, hosted and occasionally acted in the series. Half way through the season, ratings were not as expected, possibly because the series didn't air on the West Coast. Big name actors were brought in to help improve ratings. The sustained series still left the air after only one season. STUDIO ONE ran until July 27, 1948, when it was replaced by ROOFTOPS OF THE CITY. However, the standards it set led to a TV series of the same name which ran for nine seasons. STUDIO ONE seems to be a forgotten gem. If you like high drama, these shows should not be overlooked.
Suspense, one of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." It was heard on CBS from 1942 through 1962. Approximately 945 episodes were broadcast during its long run, and more than 900 are extant in mostly high-quality recordings Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors and director/producers. There were a few rules which were followed for all but a handful of episodes: Protagonists were usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation. Evildoers must be punished in the end. The program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Among its science fiction entries were "The Man who Went Back to Save Lincoln" (a time travel fantasy) and an adaptation of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain, as well as an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft short story, "The Dunwich Horror". Alfred Hitchcock directed its audition show (for the CBS series Forecast). This was an adaptation of "The Lodger," a story Hitchcock had filmed in 1926 with Ivor Novello.
Suspense 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Listen
Theater Five was one of the American Broadcasting Company's last attempt to revive dramatic radio. It was and is a wonderful tribute to those who had contributed so much to the early days of radio. These were tightly scripted programs that packed excitement and suspense into a 25 minute package. If one listens to them these days, they are as fresh and enjoyable as they were almost forty years ago. Theater Five aired week days for 52 weeks with a total of 260 shows.
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-three sequels. He is the son of a British Lord and Lady, marooned on the coast of Africa by mutineers. His parents died when he was an infant, and he was raised by Great Apes of a species unknown to science. Kala is his ape mother. Tarzan (White-skin) is his ape name; his English name is John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (according to Burroughs; Earl of Greystoke in later, non-canonical sources, notably the 1984 movie Greystoke). As a young adult, he meets Jane, and when she returns to America he leaves the jungle in search of his true love. Tarzan and Jane marry, and he lives with her for a time in England. They have one son, Jack, who takes the ape name Korak. Tarzan is contemptuous of the hypocrisy of civilization, and he and Jane return to Africa where, both being immortal, they still live.
Tarzan 1932-33 Tarzan And The Fires Of Tohr
Tarzan And The Diamond Of Asher Tarzan 1951
Police Headquarters is a rare crime radio drama, lasted for about 12-15 minutes, was syndicated to radio stations. The series aired on NBC stations in 1932. The series consists of 39 shows. An interesting example of shows of the early thirties, this series set a pattern that can be seen later in the police series of the 40's and 50's, like DRAGNET. Unlike many of the syndicated series of the period, each show is a complete story. As you can imagine, detailing and solving the case in 12 to 15 minutes and still make each story interesting is a bit of a challange. For the most part, the shows manage this fine.. The police in the drama would investigate a murder, a bank robbery, and etc. finding who did it, and ends up finding the real criminals accused of crimes. The series offers an interesting view of police work in its time period.
The Shadow is a fictional character created by Walter B. Gibson. The character is one of the most famous of the pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s -- made even more famous through a popular radio series, The Shadow has also been featured in comic books, comic strips, television, and at least seven motion pictures. Regardless, The Shadow is best regarded for its radio years, in which pulp crime fiction received perhaps its most compelling broadcast interpretation. Even after decades, the unmistakable introduction from The Shadow, intoned by announcer John Archer, has earned a place in the American lexicon: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
The Silent Men - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. played the parts of "special agents of all branches of the federal government, who daily risk their lives to protect the lives of all of us... to guard our welfare and our liberties, they must remain nameless - The Silent Men!" At each episode, Fairbanks checked in with his chief, played by either William Conrad or Herb Butterfield. Regulars included Virginia Gregg, Raymond Burr, Lou Merrill, Lurene Tuttle, Paul Frees and John Dehner. Don Stanley was the announcer. The show was produced and directed by Warren Lewis, who wrote many of the scripts along with Joel Murcott. The series ran on NBC.
The Six Shooter was a weekly old-time radio program in the USA. It was created by Frank Burt, who also wrote many of the episodes, and lasted only one season of 39 episodes on NBC (Sept. 20, 1953-June 24, 1954). Through March 21, 1954 it was broadcast Sundays at 8 p.m. Beginning April 1, 1954 through the final episode it was on Thursday at 8 p.m. James Stewart starred as Britt Poncet, a drifting cowboy in the final years of the wild west. Episodes ranged from straight western drama to whimsical comedy. A trademark of the show was Stewart's use of whispered narration during tense scenes that created a hightened sense of drama and relief when the situation was resolved. Some of the more prominent actors to perform on the program included Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Reed, Marvin Miller and William Conrad. Some did multiple episodes playing different characters. Each episode opened with the announcer stating: The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged his skin is sun-dyed brown the gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "the Six Shooter." The haunting theme music was "Highland Lament" by series composor Basil Adlam. The final broadcast "Myra Barker" provided a satisfying (if melancholy) finale to the series: Ponsett falls in love but eventually breaks the engagement, realizing that he could never settle down and would be placing her in perpetual dread of the day when his gun finally proves too slow. With sadness he rides off after telling Myra farewell and resumes his wanderings.
The Six Shooter Listen The Six Shooter Zip
The Smiths Of Hollywood Listen
The Stan Freberg Show was a weekly radio comedy show that ran on the CBS Radio Network for only fifteen episodes in 1957–58. The show, starring comedian Stan Freberg and featuring the vocal talents of Daws Butler, June Foray, and Peter Leeds and the musical direction of Billy May, ran in the 7 p.m. timeslot previously occupied by The Jack Benny Program. The show was produced by Pete Barnum with sound effects by Bill James and Gene Twombly. Despite its short run, the show managed to develop some running gags and stock jokes, from Freberg's ambivalence toward Madison Avenue (faux advertisements for "Puffed Grass" and "Food", as well as the classic sketch "Gray Flannel Hatful of Teenage Werewolves") to the overwhelmingly popular interviews with a sneaker-wearing Abominable Snowman. By the thirteenth episode, it was clear that The Stan Freberg Show was suffering from a lack of advertiser interest (perhaps helped by Freberg's werewolf comparisons). CBS canceled the series after fifteen episodes; according to Joe Bevilacqua, it was the last American network radio show to devote itself purely to comedy.
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The Strange Dr. Weird is an Old-time radio show that ran from 1944 to 1945. It is notable in part because it was a sister show to The Mysterious Traveler, both in theme and in its choice of cast. Maurice Tarplin, the creepy voice of The Mysterious Traveler, introduced and ended each Strange Dr. Weird episode to the strains of an organ. The closing line never changed: "...perhaps you’ll drop in on me again soon. I’m always home. Just look for the house on the other side of the cemetery – the house of Dr Weird!" The show was produced and directed by Jock McGregor and written by Robert A. Arthur, who had also written for the Mysterious Traveler. Adams Hats was the sponsor. There are 29 episodes in total. Each episode is 15 minutes long.
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Tales of the Diamond K - There is not much information available about Tales of the Diamond K, despite extensive research done both on the internet and in the newspaper logs. It was a 15 minute syndicated show aimed at a juvenile audience and appeared to have been aired on a daily basis, during the mid 50's. Some sources indicate that as many as a thousand shows were produced, but there are only 39 known to be in existence. The series starred Ken Maynard as the host who introduced and told a different story each day. Most of the stories took place in the Old West.
Old Time Radio Researchers Group Cerified Set
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Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952. Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal, to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases. The series was produced and directed by Stacy Keach, Sr., and was sponsored for part of its run by Wheaties. Captain Manuel T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, a Ranger for 30 years and who was said to have killed 31 men during his career, served as consultant for the series.
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Tales of Uncle Remus is a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris. The stories have inspired at least three feature films. The first and most famous is Walt Disney's Song of the South, released in 1946.
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Here also is audiobook readings from Project Gutenberg
Tennessee Jed Sloane aired in the mid 1940's Monday - Friday sponsored by Tip Top Bread. Johnny Thomas starred as Tennessee Jed Sloan and was later replaced by Don MacLaughlin. His faithful horse was named Smoky. These shows are very entertaining, however, they are rare and scarce.
The Thin Man (1934) : After The Thin Man (1936) (June 8, 1936)
The Tom Mix radio show aired September 25, 1933 from New York City with Artells "Art" Dickson starring in the lead and actor, Percy Hemus as "The Old Wrangler." Roland Martini was the original script writer. The radio show was a instant hit, the sales of Ralston cereal flourished. After two seasons the production was moved to Chicago and Jack Holden became the new voice of Tom Mix.
The True Adventures Of Junior G Men was a boys club and popular culture phenomenon during the late 1930s and early 1940s that began with a radio program and culminated with films featuring the Dead End Kids. After leaving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a brief stint in Hollywood, Melvin Purvis hosted a children’s radio program called "Junior G-Men" in 1936. Purvis had become a national hero for his record as an FBI agent during the so-called "war on crime" in the early 1930s, most notably for leading the manhunt that ended with the death of John Dillinger. As a result of this fame, Purvis was seen as a real-life counterpart to the fictional detectives, such as Dick Tracy, that proliferated in the popular culture targeting boys during this period. As part of the radio program, listeners could join a "Junior G-Men" club and receive badges, manuals, and secret agent props
The Whistler was one of radio's most popular mystery dramas, with a 13-year run from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955.The Whistler was the most popular West-Coast originated program with its listeners for many years. It was sponsored by the Signal Oil Company: "Let that whistle be your signal for the Signal Oil program, The Whistler." The writing was first class for its genre, and it added a slightly macabre element of humor to its often-paranoid crime stories. Writer-producer J. Donald Wilson established the tone of the show during its first two years, and he was followed in 1944 by producer-director George Allen. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. A total of 692 episodes were produced, yet despite the series' fame, over 200 episodes are lost today. In 1946, a local Chicago version of The Whistler with local actors aired Sundays on WBBM, sponsored by Meister Brau beer.
The Whistler 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Winston Churchill Speeches Listen
This Is Your FBI was a radio crime drama which aired in the United States on ABC from April 6, 1945 to January 30, 1953. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover gave it his endorsement, calling it "the finest dramatic program on the air." Producer-director Jerry Devine was given access to FBI files by Hoover, and the resulting dramatizations of FBI cases were narrated by Frank Lovejoy (1945), Dean Carleton (1946-47) and William Woodson (1948-53). Stacy Harris had the lead role of Special Agent Jim Taylor. Others in the cast were William Conrad, Bea Benaderet and Jay C. Flippen.
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Vic and Sade was a American radio program created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was regularly broadcast on radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957. During its fourteen-year-run on radio, Vic and Sade became one of the most popular series of its kind, earning critical and popular success: according to Time, Vic and Sade had 7,000,000 devoted listeners in 1943. For the majority of its span on the air, Vic and Sade was heard in 15-minute episodes without a continuing storyline. The central characters, known as "radio's home folks," were accountant Victor Rodney Gook (Art Van Harvey), his wife Sade (Bernadine Flynn) and their adopted son Rush (Bill Idelson). The three lived on Virginia Avenue in "the small house halfway up in the next block." The program was presented with a low-key ease and naturalness, and Rhymer's humorous dialogue was delivered with a subtleness that made even the most outrageous events seem commonplace and normal.
Victor Borge Collection Listen
Voyage of the Scarlet Queen was a radio adventure on the high seas, airing on Mutual from 3 July 1947 to 14 February 1948. James Burton produced the scripts by Gil Doud and Robert Tallman. Elliott Lewis starred as Philip Carney, master of the ketch Scarlet Queen, with Ed Max as Mr. Gallagher. With a gambit later used by Star Trek, the opening was an entry from the ship's log: "Log entry, the ketch Scarlet Queen, Philip Carney, master. Position -- three degrees, seven minutes north, 104 degrees, two minutes east. Wind, fresh to moderate; sky, fair..." with a similar closing: "Ship secured for the night. Signed, Philip Carney, master." In between he would almost always have an adventure at an exotic port of call that involved saving one of his crew from great trouble with local customs.
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Wild Bill Hickock 010203040506
X Minus One was a half-hour science fiction radio series broadcast from April 24, 1955 to January 9, 1958 in various timeslots on NBC. Initially a revival of NBC's Dimension X (1950-51), X Minus One is widely considered among the finest science fiction dramas ever produced for radio. The first 15 episodes were new versions of Dimension X episodes, but the remainder were adaptations of newly published science fiction stories by leading writers in the field, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl and Theodore Sturgeon, along with a few original scripts. Episodes of the show include adaptations of Robert Sheckley's "Skulking Permit," Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven," Heinlein's "Universe," Pohl’s "The Tunnel Under The World," J. T. McIntosh’s "Hallucination Orbit," Fritz Leiber’s "A Pail of Air" and George Lefferts' "The Parade". The program opened with announcer Fred Collins delivering the countdown, leading into this introduction (although later shows were partnered with Galaxy Science Fiction rather than Astounding Science Fiction):
Countdown for blastoff... X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one... Fire! [Rocket launch SFX] From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you'll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of Astounding Science Fiction presents... X Minus One.
The series was cancelled after the 126th broadcast on January 9, 1958. However, the early 1970s brought a wave of nostalgia for old-time radio; a new experimental episode, "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg, was created in 1973, but it failed to revive the series. NBC also tried broadcasting the old recordings, but their irregular once-monthly scheduling kept even devoted listeners from following the broadcasts. All episodes of the show survive.
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YOU ARE THERE (1947 - 1950) Great historical events presented as news broadcasts. It was called "CBS IS THERE" till spring of 1948 and was a summer replacement series for "LUX RADIO THATER" through Episode 7. This was a series constructed to bring past historical events to a post WWII radio audience. They were presented as new broadcasts, instead of just dramatic shows. Complete on-the-scene team of reporters was used in the shows. Walter Cronkite joined the series and became anchor when it made the move to television.
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Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a radio drama about a freelance insurance investigator "with the action-packed expense account." The show aired on CBS Radio from February 11, 1949 to September 30, 1962. There were 811 episodes in the 12-year run, and over 720 still exist today. As originally conceived, Johnny Dollar was a smart, tough, wisecracking detective who tossed silver-dollar tips to waiters and bellhops. Dick Powell starred in the audition show, recorded in 1948, but withdrew from the role in favor of other projects. The role went instead to Charles Russell. With the first three actors to play Johnny Dollar -- radio actor Russell and movie tough-guy actors Edmond O'Brien and John Lund -- there was little to distinguish Johnny Dollar from other detective series at the time (Richard Diamond, Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade). While always a friend of the police, Johnny wasn't necessarily a stickler for the strictest interpretation of the law. He was willing to let some things slide to satisfy his own sense of justice, as long as the interests of his employer were protected. After a year-long break (August 1954 to August 1955), the show changed from a 30-minute, one-episode-per-week affair to a 15-minute, five-nights-a-week serial that introduced the most successful Johnny Dollar: Bob Bailey, who had just come off another network detective series, Let George Do It. With a new lead and 75 minutes of air time (minus commercials), it became possible to develop more complex story lines with interesting characters. Bob Bailey was exceptionally good in this format, making Johnny more sensitive and thoughtful in addition to his other attributes. It is agreed by many that this single season of five-part stories constitute some of the greatest drama in vintage radio. The serial scripts were usually written by radio veterans Jack Johnstone or Les Crutchfield, and always produced and directed by Johnstone.
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THE ZERO HOUR Rod Serling started the groundwork for a new radio series called THE ZERO HOUR, which was to have featured Ray Bradbury's story as theopener. Norman Corwin took over the project and it evolved into a suspense radio drama series hosted by Rod Serling. It was produced by StudioHouse, who also produced The Salvation Army program, "Heartbeat Theatre". Don Hill produced the series. THE ZERO HOUR was produced in 1973 and featured 5-part stories that ran Monday through Friday, until December of 1973. Each part was approximately 30 minutes long (including commercials). The series was sold to Mutual for syndication. The format was changed to single part shows in 1974, running again 5 days a week, from the end of April through July of 1974. One hundred and thirty episodes were produced, counting each 5-part show as 5 episodes.