Confession which premiered over the NBC radio network on July 5^th, 1953 on Sunday evenings began with the announcer intoning “The Confession you are about to hear is an actual recording…� The whole concept was to create what appeared to be a real criminal reading their own confession. The confessions were true stories of crime and punishment made by the person about whom the week’s episode was focused. Everything was revealed in a reverse order from the normal story beginning with the confession and moving back in time to the crime.

It was certainly an intriguing idea…

Music under is “What Am I Here For?� performed by Andre Previn, Joe Pass & Ray Brown.

This week a rather obscure radio detective series from the very early fifties called The Big Guy. The series starred Henry Calvin (right) who is best known as Sgt. Garcia from television’s Zorro. While the opening of the episode makes the show sound light, the subject matter is very radio detective and for the most part enjoyable.

Music under is called “Grace� by the Shapiro Project.

“Riabouchinska� is an unusual tale from the pen of Ray Bradbury. Not a name normally associated with the detective genre. However, this tale published in 1953 in The Saint Detective Magazine was first heard in 1947 on the radio program Suspense when the script was created from the original Bradbury story outline. The author had not even actually written the story yet! That would come six years later. Even though Ray Bradbury is one of America’s best fantasy and science fiction writers, this tale with its theme of the ventriloquist haunted by his own dummy’s personality involved murder and a detective who wanted to get to the bottom of the reasons behind the killing. From radio then to print and finally to television, first on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and later re-written by the author himself for his Ray Bradbury Theatre, the theme is one later played out in the Hollywood film Magic starring Anthony Hopkins in an early role.

You can view the Hitchcock version at Hulu.com.

Another visit with Cornell Woolrich, considered the father of noir fiction. I’ll look at one of his short novellas, Dime A Dance, published in 1938 and its adaptation on radio’s Suspense on January 13, 1944 starring Lucille Ball. The adaptation works for the most part and has the twists and turns of a good noirish suspense story.

Music under is Sonny Rollin’s rendition of “Poor Butterfly.�

This week, I begin looking at the noirish radio dramas based on the stories of Cornell Woolrich. First off is The White Rose Murders from the radio series Suspense. It is based on a story by Woolrich called The Death Rose and is one of the best examples of a taut noir radio drama.

Music under is first: Blind Spot by 3rd Man followed by Soothe Me by Shea Breaux Wells.

A year and a half ago, I featured a radio version of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story, "The Lost Special" which aired over Escape in 1949. At that time, the Suspense version starring Orson Welles was considered lost. Recently, the audio for that 1943 Suspense version has surfaced thanks to Randy Riddle.

And so, I am taking another look at this version of the story, which is much closer to the original short story. I have mixed feelings about the adaptation as you will hear.

Background music is Grover's Tune by Excellent Adventure

From the fecund mind of mystery/thriller writer, Edgar Wallace, best known as the first screenwriter of the film King Kong. His better known mystery series include the J.G. Reeder and Green Archer series. Wallace's stories were so well accepted over 160 films were made from them. This week I'll look at Wallace and the radio play "Criminal At Large" from the Molle' Mystery Theatre from April 1944. The radio play was based upon a stage play and film called The Frightened Lady.

Music under is Deep Purple played by Art Tatum.

Eric Ambler is mostly known as a writer of spy related novels. Mask of Dimitrios (published in the U.S. as A Coffin for Dimitrios) is about a writer of detective stories who bargains for more than he can handle as he researches the mysterious Dimitrios. He is pulled farther and farther into a web of deceit. The book was made into a film and the film into a radio play as presented on the Screen Guild Theatre in 1945.

A look at the story and Ambler.

From the pen of Dorothy L. Sayers, a different kind of detective story involving her detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. “The Cave of Ali Baba� was heard over Suspense in 1942 based on her original short story “The Adventurous Exploits of the Cave of Ali Baba� published in 1928.

One of Agatha Christie’s most successful stories with her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot was in itself controversial and a number of books have been written about the detective story. Her fellow writers at the time felt she had crossed the line in their “rules of the game� when creating a tidy cozy mystery. I’ll look briefly at the controversy and you’ll hear Orson Welles disappointing creation of her Belgian detective in the Mercury Theater’s production of this well-known detective story.

I’m back for a brief visit to one of the “lost in time� detective writers - Leslie T. White, an early 20th century forensics detective for the Los Angeles District Attorney. White turned to detective story writing influencing among others - Raymond Chandler. One of his stories was adapted for the Molle Mystery Theater in 1946 and is presented here.

Merry Christmas!  This will unfortunately have to be my last podcast for some time. Not sure how long I will be away, but stay subscribed. I am returning to the master of detective writers and a creator of one of radio’s favorite detectives - Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes. This episode is from the mind of Denis Greene and Anthony Boucher and is not part of the Holmes canon. A nice little Christmas story!

Another Carlton Morse adventure starring the A-1 Detective team of Jack and Doc. This episode has elements of the true detective genre some of which is straight out of the style of Hammett and Chandler.

The further adventures of Jack, Doc and Jeri Booker continue in “The Pirate Loot of the Island of Skulls.� Two more episodes this week plus snippets of interviews with Carlton E. Morse and Russell Thorson. The storyline unfortunately is not complete in audio format, so I’ll try to give some summaries between various episodes to give wholeness to the complete story.

This week I am beginning a series of podcasts featuring the A-1 Detective team of Jack Packard and Doc Long - Carleton Morse’s intrepid detectives from I Love A Mystery. The series is not a complete one as there are very few complete runs of this adventure thriller series: A twelve part series called “The Pirate Loot of the Island of Skulls� from 1942. I’ll be looking at Morse, the series and this serial adventure over the next few weeks.

The final entry into my look at women radio detectives. This week is an example of the many husband and wife detective teams that appeared on radio. Others included Adventures of the Thin Man, Mr. & Mrs North, It’s a Crime, Mr. Collins and Front Page Farrell. This week’s series used characters from the pen of Frances Crane in which Jean Abbott is a much stronger detective than she was portrayed on radio. Claudia Morgan (right) and Les Damon starred as Jean and Pat Abbott.

Continuing with the second part look at women radio detectives, I look at another radio detective series in which a woman was the lead private investigator. Miss Pinkerton, Incorporated starred Joan Blondell and Dick Powell (right), husband and wife in real life at the time as Mary Vance, head of the Vance Detective Agency and Police investigator Murray. The only surviving episode was the premier. This was a lighter show but clicked as both Blondell and Powell were naturals in front of a radio microphone.

I begin a new series of podcasts focusing on radio’s “Lady Detectives.� First up is Candy Matson, probably the best of the lady detectives on radio. There are extensive sound bytes from my interview with Jack French (right) who authored Private Eyelashes, a book which looks at radio’s female detectives. Candy Matson was a production for the West Coast coming out of San Francisco beginning in 1949.

Music under is Johnny Mercer singing “Candy.�

Part two of a look at the police procedurals of radio drama. While Dragnet was the “daddy� of procedurals, 21st Precinct was probably an example of almost pure procedure. Dragnet had characters listeners could care about. 21st Precinct was much dryer in tone even forsaking opening and closing music and musical bridges to maintain a sense of a documentary style approach. The opening voice was always the desk sergeant mostly portrayed by veteran radio and television actor, Harold Stone (right).

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Beginning a new theme - police procedurals. The detective genre’s most recent sub-genre is the police procedural. Radio followed suit with the introduction of Dragnet in 1949 created by Jack Webb (right) and its influence both on radio detectives as well as the printed word continues to be felt. I’ll provide examples of what makes a story a police procedural. Next week I’ll continue the theme.

A look at my final entry into radio detectives born out of the pulp magazines. The Shadow was in some ways not a detective as much as a crime fighter (there is a difference), but some of the episodes did bear some aspects where Lamont Cranston did do some detective work to help come to the resolution.

Continuing a look at radio detectives who had their beginnings in the pulps, this week a look at Jack “Flash� Casey created by George Harmon Coxe and born from the pages of Black Mask Magazine. Jack Casey came to radio first as “Flashgun� Casey, then Casey, Crime Photographer.

This week begins a short series on radio detectives who come from the pulps. This includes pulps such as the early publications like the one on the right and Black Mask Magazine. I'll start with one of the earliest pulp detectives who appeared on radio, Nick Carter. A look at the history of these pulps, some of the early detectives, and an early Nick Carter, Master Detective episode from 1943.

From John Dickson Carr to Ellery Queen, we now move to the last of our look at the scientific detectives on radio - the master himself, Sherlock Holmes, as written by Anthony Boucher (right) and Denis Green. I’ll do a little comparing to the Edith Meiser version of Holmes too.

Continuing the examination of the detectives using the deductive process, a look at the authors Fred Dannay and Manfred Lee, aka Ellery Queen and their famous detective. We'll follow their connection to last week's author John Dickson Carr and hear an episode that while not from the first year (the hour long series) reflects the hour long series since the originals are lost to time. This is from The Ford Theatre and stars the original Ellery Queen Hugh Marlowe (right).

This week concludes my focus on John Dickson Carr. A look at a radio play based upon his Colonel March detective stories (written under the pseudonym Carter Dickson) without, unfortunately, the Colonel. "Five Canaries in a Room" starring Ona Munson (right) is based upon his Colonel March short story "The Crime in Nobody's Room." This version has been Americanized and was written by Carr himself but without Colonel March. Instead we have an Inspector Braddock.

This week, a look at the detective Dr. Gideon Fell created by mystery writer John Dickson Carr. Carr was an American who spent much of his life in England writing "locked room" mysteries and crime involving his several detectives. Dr. Gideon Fell was one his most popular. We'll also look at the writing of John Dickson Carr and listen to a partial episode of his famous detective on Suspense plus a complete episode with the detective written out, but other characters serving up the detection!

Music under is Oscar Peterson and a "Waltz for Debby".

This week I bring to a close the look at the influence of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade on radio detectives. You'll hear a rarer heard Adventures of Sam Spade from the first season ABC Radio network run in 1946. This series also starred Howard Duff (right) and is the only existing audio copy known from that season. These were generally superior versions thanks to the writing talent of Bob Tallman and Jo Eisinger and though no copies exist, eight of Hammett's actual works are adapted into stories from Hammett's own publication also called The Adventures of Sam Spade.

Music under is from the

A look at a sort of a six degrees of separation around Dashiell Hammett�s Sam Spade and various radio programs which seemed directly or indirectly influenced by the hardboiled detective. By early 1949, Gil Doud and Bob Tallman left the Adventures of Sam Spade. Doud became the writer for a new radio detective series � Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar starring Charles Russell. Doud created some radio scripts that bore distinct Sam Spade themes in the creation of his new radio detective character. Portions of the characterizations in this podcast radio play were almost a steal from Hammett�s Maltese Falcon.

A continued look at our twisted six degrees of separation as I look at radio detectives connected to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade. This week a look at Hammett's own short story adapted for radio on Suspense. Stuart Erwin (right) plays a police lieutenant who like Hammett's Continental Op rises above the corruption of police authority to solve the crime. A well written play by the great mystery writer, John Dickson Carr.

Music under is "Grover's Tune" by Excellent Adventure from the Podshow Music Network.

I return from my recent hiatus with a look over the next few weeks at radio detectives that have some connection to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade. This podcast begins with a look at a story from writer and scripter Jo Eisinger, whose book The Walls Came Tumbling Down was adapted into a radio play for the radio series Suspense. Listen to the podcast to find out what the connection is to Sam Spade! This episode starred a young and upcoming Keenan Wynn (right).

Music under is by Oscar Peterson.

100th podcast of this series! A special double-header focusing on the writing, the darkness and the pulse of two of the better radio series with crime detection themes. Night Beat with its gravel-voiced character played by Frank Lovejoy (right) and its use of darkness through the writing and images and Broadway Is My Beat with its haiku-style narration, dark jazzy undertones and layered sound effects both combine to create a sizzingly summertime and dark feel to the big city “beat.�

This will be my last podcast for a few weeks as I take a break to recharge!

The reporter as investigator! This series was based upon real-life incidents in which a newspaper reporter played an important part in solving a crime. The reporter was presented with the Pall Mall Award at the end of the show. These reporters showed the best side of their investigative skills - something shared by the radio detectives featured in this podcast series. The only regular on the series was the announcer, Ernest Chappell (right).

A detective serial of the modern southwest. What Dragnet was to Los Angeles, this serial is to Texas. Starring Joel McCrea as Ranger Pearson, the series takes place in the thirties and focuses on the CSI style investigations of crimes as Pearson guides his men and himself through the maze of investigation of crime.

Music under is Coyote Moon by Ben Tavera King.

This week a detective story that comes from within the genre of science fiction! Based upon a story by science fiction author Frank M. Robinson, this radio version from Dimension X is very much a hardboiled detective story, but with science-based concepts. Starring George Petrie (right) who could have played a very good Johnny Dollar. A hardboiled detective story but with time travel implications!

Something a bit different in radio detectives. The Adventures of Leonidas Witherall was a WOR Mutual amateur radio detective in 1944. He is the headmaster of a New England school and an expert on William Shakespeare. These episodes were a bit lighter in tone than many of the detectives but probably in keeping with other detectives at this period on radio. Star of the series was distinguished stage actor, Walter Hampden (right).

This week parts 2 & 3 of our look at a somewhat different group of detectives. Adventures by Morse is about Captain Bart Friday and Skip Turner, two detectives who are born more out of the pulp traditions than the hardboiled school. Carlton E. Morse (right) created these series of adventure-mysteries. You'll hear part two & three of three this week.

This week begins a two part look at a somewhat different group of detectives. Adventures by Morse is about Captain Bart Friday and Skip Turner, two detectives who are born more out of the pulp traditions than the hardboiled school. Carlton E. Morse (right) created these series of adventure-mysteries. You'll hear part one of three this week and the final two parts next week.

A revisit to the hardboiled world of Dashiell Hammett (right) with a special broadcast of the Adventures of Sam Spade with Howard Duff in an hour long episode from the radio series Suspense. We'll look at the seamy world of Hammett, hear from producer William Spier and Howard Duff.

Charlie Chan was one of radio, film and televisions best known detectives. Earl Derr Biggers (right) fictional Honolulu detective has remained popular for many years. This week a look at all of the Chan versions on radio, plus two episodes from two of the series.

The final look at Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin as he appeared on radio. This week a look at the final Archie - Harry Bartell (right). Also a little discussion on the detective character as perceived by Stout and a brief clip of a Canadian run of the series.

Continuing with our look at the Archie Goodwin's from the radio Nero Wolfe series, this week, my favorite Archie actor - Gerald Mohr (right), formerly of the Adventures of Philip Marlowe radio show. Mohr had all the elements of a good Archie Goodwin as I think Rex Stout envisioned him.

The third of a four part look at the Archie Goodwin character and the actors who portrayed him on radio. We're now into the third series run of this radio detective - The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe. This run starred Sidney Greenstreet as the corpulent Wolfe. But the one year run of this series had no less than six actors portraying the detective's important sidekick - Archie Goodwin!

This week, you'll hear four of the six through clips with the fourth appearing in a complete episode - Larry Dobkin (right) was one of the longer Archie Goodwin's during this run.

Part II of our continuing look at Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin portrayals on the Nero Wolfe radio series. This week, Elliott Lewis (right) steps into the role of Goodwin with Francis X. Bushman as Wolfe.  Lewis was one of radio's most versatile persons. He was an actor, both comedic as well as serious, producer, director and writer.  This week's episode is from The Amazing Nero Wolfe!

This week begins a multi-podcast look at Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin character as portrayed on radio. While the podcast will feature episodes from Nero Wolfe, the focus will be on the differences between the actors who portrayed Archie Goodwin on the series.

This week's begins with veteran radio actor John Gibson who portrayed Archie while Santos Ortega portrayed Wolfe in the first run from the series in 1944.

An episode from a well-written, but rarely found series about detective Lieutenant Dana of the Homicide Bureau. Starred Dan Duryea (right) as Dana, this series was very short-lived - four months. Only three episodes are known to exist of this rare series.

Music under is Roy Eldridge.

Our final look at Gunsmoke as detective serial. This is from the regular run of Gunsmoke in 1952 starring William Conrad (right). I'll look at how it shares some elements of the detective genre.

Gunsmoke?  A detective show?

This week, a look at how Gunsmoke was first conceived as a hard boiled western detective series. A little history on the beginnings of the concept and an audition recording by two writers of hardboiled radio detective stories - Mort Fine and David Friedkin.

This audition starred Rye Billsbury (later Michael Rye) as "Mark Dillon."

A slight wrinkle to the theme of detectives this week. A look at the newspaperman as detective as Jimmy Stewart (right) turns detective as he tries to solve a mis-carriage of justice. The radio play was based upon the film Call Northside 777, a great noir film. Besides Stewart, I'll go into some of the veteran radio actors you'll hear in this week's play.

Music under is Lac Fantome by Nick Kepics from garageband.com

E.W. Hornung (right) was the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung's own fictional detective rivaled Conan Doyle's and the two would often create stories that referenced the other. Where Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson were the upright detectives who fantasized about becoming criminals, Hornung's A.J. Raffles and his helper Harry "Bunny" Manders were criminals - specifically amateur cracksmen.

This week you'll hear CBS Radio's version of the Hornung Raffles.

There were only two radio detective serials in which one of the detectives was played by a woman and a major film star. This week I'll look at one of those serials - Results, Inc. and you be able to hear only one of three that are known to exist of the series.  The star was the glamorous Claire Trevor (right), who plays Terry Travers opposite her fellow detective, Johnny Strange portrayed by Lloyd Nolan.

Music under is "Get Out of the Blue" by Nick Kepics on Garageband.com

Just as radio detectives often seemed to be loners, there were also several radio detective husband and wife teams. Most think immediately of Nick and Nora Charles, but another popular one on radio that even made it to film and television was Mr. & Mrs. North. Based on the novels of Frances and Richard Lockridge, for most of the radio run Jerry North was played by Joseph Curtain while Pam North was portrayed by Alice Frost (right).

Happy New Year!

This week a rarely heard short-lived series that featured fiction's famous detectives telling about their most famous cases. The series was called Murder Clinic and each week featured a different detective from fiction.

Music under is "Saturday Morning" by Anne Farnsworth from the Podsafe Music Network.

It's Christmas time and this week's podcast is a special one! Staying in the vein of our detective theme, I present a variation on Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" with the puckish Dick Powell in his Richard Diamond hat.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

A bit outside the regular "detective" stories, this episode from the Campbell Playhouse (Mercury Theater on the Air) takes Dash Hammett's (right) story about power and corruption rolls one character into a "detective" mold and comes up with "The Glass Key."  This one is well done.

This one is a bit longer than normal due to the length of the episode.

A look at Edith Meiser (right), who was responsible for first bringing Sherlock Holmes to radio. Meiser adapted almost all the Holmes canon for radio beginning in the early thirties until 1945. She later wrote the text for a comic stripe of Holmes in the fifties.  An accomplished actress, who also wrote books, films and radio plays.  You'll hear a rare Holmes radio play from 1934.

The final actor to portray Johnny Dollar is featured this week. Mandel Kramer (right) was the last Dollar and also the last featured star of a dramatic radio serial from its Golden Age. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar had the sad distinction of being the final dramatic radio program when it ended in September 1962.

When Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was moved from Hollywood to New York City, Bob Bailey chose not to move with it and left the show. His long running stint as Dollar came to an end. New York actor Robert Readick became the new Johnny Dollar.

A look at how the new series changed yet again.

We're nearing the end of our run of Johnny Dollar actors. This week a look at probably the best known and one of the most popular radio Johnny Dollar's among radio fans - Bob Bailey (right).

Bailey is not well-known outside of his role although he was on a number of other series, mostly in minor roles. His story is a somewhat sad one as Bailey was a victim of his life as a radio actor.

Music under is fantasia by Duke Ellington.

Nearing the end, a look at Johnny Dollar #5 and another one that was never heard over radio. Veteran radio and television actor Gerald Mohr - the voice of Philip Marlowe (right) - did an audition recording of the revival of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar after it left the air the previous year.

Music under is "Blue in Rain" by kosaito from the Podshow Music Network.

We're now at the 4th Johnny Dollar actor in my continuing run on this well known radio detective. John Lund (right) was the fourth actor to portray the famous insurance investigator. Like Edmond O'Brien, his portrayal was a darker one, but flatter than O'Brien's. He was my least favorite of the Dollar's perhaps, but consideration will be given to his acting.

Music under is is "Forty-Eight" by Whispering Johnson from the Podsafe Music Network.

We're now at part 3 of our look at Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. This week I'll focus on the portrayal of the detective by actor Edmond O'Brien. This run of the series takes on a much darker less whimsical tone as created by the new producer Jaime De Valle.

Continuing the look at the history of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. I'll be looking at the first serial Johnny Dollar - actor Charles Russell (right) and how he approached the character. I'll also look at how he differed from Dick Powell's portrayal that was heard in the previous podcast.

Music under is "Evansessence" by Anne Farnsworth from the Podshow Music Network.

This week the start of a series looking at the history of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and how it changed over its 13 year history. This week's is an audition recording starring Dick Powell as Johnny in an episode that never aired.

Another police procedural radio series besides Dragnet was 21st Precinct. It was in some ways even more straight-forward than Jack Webb's version. This show looked at the 21st precinct of a New York City borough and the people who lived and died in it.

This week an extensive look at the history of The Saint, aka Simon Templer and its author Leslie Charteris (right). I'll look at the different media appearances of the series plus snippets of interviews with one of Charteris' biographers Dick Fiddy.

Interview clips come from Geoffrey Richards and the BBC.

Music under is "Fantasia" by Duke Ellington.

Another radio detective from the factory of Frank and Ann Hummert was Inspector Thorne. The series was short-lived and also had two stars portraying the lead. The first was Karl Weber and the second was Staats Cotsworth (right).

This week - a return to hardboiled detective fiction writer, Raymond Chandler. In 1944, the film Murder, My Sweet was released based on Chandler's book Farewell, My Lovely. In 1945 the Lux Radio Theater produced an adaptation of the film starring much of the original cast including Dick Powell and Claire Trevor (right). Some interesting Chandler tidbits about the production.

Music under is "Evan's Essence" by Anne Farnsworth on the Podshow Music Network.

I'll be taking a week off attending the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Maryland.

Arthur Conan Doyle (right) is best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes. This week I look at another detective creation of his - one Inspector Collins of Scotland Yard. He only appeared once on radio and that was in the Escape presentation of a Conan Doyle short story - "The Lost Special" about a train that seems to totally vanish.

Collins has Holmesian characteristics in his detective skills.

Music under is "Katy's Melting Song" by Monika Herzig on Podshow.com

While John P. Marquand (right) found literary success in his books such as The Late George Apley, he found commercial success in a series of detective/spy novels featuring a Japanese mystery man - Mr. I.A. Moto. This week I feature the agent that Peter Lorre made famous and also made Lorre successful. By the time radio found the novels, Moto had become a detective/agent fighting Communism in America.

This week another radio detective cum lawyer born from the daytime serial dramas. Perry Mason on radio was wedged between two other "soap operas" and though it was also one, it was different from the others. I'll look at Earl Stanley Gardner and his famous lawyer who did a lot of detective work on the radio version. There were several actors who portrayed him on radio, but the most frequently remembered one was John Larkin (right).

Music under the commentary is "Midnight in Chicago" by the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra from Garageband.com.

A look at the detective serials as "soap drama."  Mr. Chameleon came from the factory of Frank and Ann Hummert who are best known as the creators of many of radio soap operas and now some of the long running television daytime dramas. The series starred Karl Swenson (right) as the detective who could disguise himself to solve a crime.

Music under the commentary is "Old Folks" by the Ron Helman Jazz Ensemble from the Podshow music network.

Though he was much better in Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, gravely-voiced William Gargan starred several more times on radio. This week a look at one of his lesser roles in which he seemed to sometimes sleep his way through. This crime detective series starred Gargan as Ross Dolan.

Just as his successful radio series, Dragnet, was making a move to television, Jack Webb starred in another short lived radio vehicle - Pete Kelly's Blues. I'll look at why he might have done so when he had so much on his plate at the time. The series had some great New Orlean's Style Jazz!

This week you'll hear an audition episode of a series that apparently never aired. San Francisco Final was produced by many of the same personnel who brought Dragnet to the television. Though San Francisco Final is a very well written episode, it has many of the same elements of Dragnet in style and feel.

The series starred Jeff Chandler who was then a major Hollywood star.

I'm back with an all new podcast about a Raymond Chandler short story called "Spanish Blood." The story is an integral one in Chandler's development of his "tarnished knight" - Phillip Marlowe. 

A look at Raymond Chandler's idea of the fictional detective and the radio play "Murder in City Hall" from the Molle Mystery Theater.

Repeat podcast while I am on leave from July 2005.

Charlie Chan was the creation of author Earl Derr Biggers (right) whose famous detective was best known in a series of films. But Chan also had a modest run on radio as you will hear in this podcast.

Repeat episode (Sep 2005) while I take some time off.

A look at an unusual Radio Detective - one doesn't always think of this radio character in the detective vein, though he was indeed the investigator as much as a crime fighter. The Shadow is one of the best remembered radio characters from his pulp creation to radio and films.

A look at another female radio detective series. This one had two big stars in Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, then husband and wife. The series, Miss Pinkerton, Inc. is based on the characters created by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

Note: I'll be taking a couple of weeks off - repeat programs will be appearing here the next two weeks.

Background music is called "Speak Low" by Akili.

In 1914, pulp fiction writer, Louis Joseph Vance, published the first in a series of mystery detective books starring Michael Lanyard, aka The Lone Wolf. Though Vance died before he could see the industry his books created in the thirties and forties, the books left him a successful writer.

This week, a look at the radio serial, The Lone Wolf with the only available episode of the series which first starred Gerald Mohr, then later Walter Coy (seen in the photo).

One of the lesser known detective radio series, The Cases of Mr. Ace appears to have been in very limited run mostly on WNEW in New York in the late forties. The series was one of only two in which George Raft starred. So listen in to the somewhat noirish Eddie Ace.

One of the lesser known radio detective serials was The Amazing Mr. Malone also known as Murder and Mr. Malone. Yet this series had three separate runs, a television series and several movies all based upon the fictional detective mystery books by author Craig Rice, whose real name was Georgiana Ann Randolph Rice (right).

Adventures of Frank Race was purely a radio series with no connection to other media. It's first star was Tom Collins whose suave (but fake) British sounding accent provided some well crafted narrative to the series. The second star was Paul Dubov who was more hardboiled.

This week, a look at the international detective whose primary business was following insurance scams.

While one might not think of Big Town as a detective series, it wasn't as much in its first run with Edward G. Robinson. But by 1942, the cast had changed and so had the theme. Managing Editor Steve Wilson of the Illustrated Press (portrayed by this time by Edward Pawley [right]) spent more time on the street investigating crime than he did running a newspaper.

Music underneath is "Seven Eleven" by Chillerstadt available on the Podshow Music Network.

A delightful but intentionally short-lived series starring Rex Harrison. This series was written by Ed Adamson, who I will talk about a bit and whose talent makes this the wonderful little series it was.

A look at Mickey Spillane and his explosive private investigator - Mike Hammer. Hammer was a true pulp hero who was seen and heard in various media including film, radio, television and comic strips. Mickey Spillane was never respected by his peers, but laughed all the way to the bank as his hero was extremely popular with readers.

This week, I am experimenting with a different format as I present William Gargan as investigator Barry Craig. The series from the early fifties was actually quite entertaining. A look at the actor himself as well as the series. Music included this week are from music.podshow.com and include:

Evan Stone performing KCAMS
Robin Stine performing "Shy Boy"
lastfuture performing "detective double bass"

A return look at Raymond Chandler's private detective, Phillip Marlowe. Last time I focused on Gerald Mohr's protrayal, but this time, we look at the first radio Phillip Marlowe - Van Heflin.

I also look at other Phillip Marlowe's from other media and how they interpreted him.

Crime and Peter Chambers was a short term replacement for the featured podcast last week - Rocky Fortune. The series starred screen and television actor Dane Clark as a suave but tough private detective based upon the detective novels by long time mystery novelist Henry Kane.

In the early fifties, Frank Sinatra's career seemed nearly over. His musical style was out of date and while he had appeared in some films, most were musically oriented. Then came From Here to Eternity for which he carried away a best supporting Oscar.

Radio too saw money in this seemingly new side to the man and signed him first to a radio series that never got past the planning stage, then to this week's feature Rocky Fortune.

Beginning with the Lucky Strike Program the first known dramatization of an FBI case was heard on the radio in 1933. The FBI continued its relationship with the networks at times opening their case files to scriptwriters to present them in dramatic form. The most popular of these types of programs is featured on this podcast including The FBI in Peace and War and This Is Your FBI.

"I've been here so long, even the seagulls must recognize me. They must pass the word along about me from generation to generation, from egg to egg."

This week a program that never became a series. Based loosely on the best selling book by Max Miller, this William N. Robson production starred Larry Thor as Joe Miller, a reporter cum detective whose beat is the fog-bound, sometimes seedy side of the waterfront.

Originally from the pen of pulp crime/mystery writer, George Harmon Coxe, Casey, Crime Photographer achieved fame through radio starring Staats Cotsworth (right).

One of the earliest police procedual dramas and possibly the model for Gang Busters and later Dragnet, Calling All Cars happened because of the public's interest in new technology - police car radios!

Plus, something completely different - an experiemental musical piece from Jon Baker at http://www.pikdesign.com. If you are open to music experiments, be prepared to crank your portable mp3 player.

Every so often one discovers a little known radio series that turns out to be a fun listen. This week you'll hear one. It's called Pursuit and stars Inspector Peter Black, a Scotland Yard detective portrayed by Ted de Corsia (right).

One of the best known fictional detectives in the world - Hercule Poirot was heard in books, movies and radio. This week, a look at this little man with the "little gray cells." I'll look at a number of his radio appearances with the full show being the premier episode of the first serialized version from 1945 starring Harold Huber (right) as the master detective.

This week a visit to Pier 23 to meet Johnny Modero, the last of the Jack Webb pre-Dragnet private detectives on radio. Probably the least of the three Webb detectives and a clone of his previous Pat Novak.

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This week a look at the gravely voiced, square-jawed actor Charles McGraw as he appeared in an audition episode of the Man From Homicide. I'll also do some sound snapshots from his radio/screen career.

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E. Jack Neumann and John Michael Hayes (right) were two of radio's finest writers of detective and suspense. This week a brief return to an episode from The Adventures of Sam Spade written by these two writers. Listen for the well defined characters the create as well as the tension and comedy. An example of some of radio's finest writing. Nuemann went on to write for television and Hayes wrote several of the classic Alfred Hitchcock films.

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Out of fog and into American homes comes Bulldog Drummond. This originally hardboiled detective becomes something else when radio gets a hold of him. This run starred Ned Wever (right).

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Morton Fine and David Friedkin were scriptwriters who were all over the radio spectrum in the forties and fifties before they moved to television. A look at how writers worked and seemed to carry common themes and style no matter the genre ending in an episode of the Fine/Friedkin scriptwork: Broadway Is My Beat starring Larry Thor (right).

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From out of the pulps comes Nick Carter, Master Detective! This week "another case for that most famous of all man hunters - the detective whose ability at solving crime is unequal in the history of detective fiction - Nick Carter, Master Detective."

The character of Nick Carter goes back to 19th century detective stories as one of the staples of early Street & Smith publishing. Nick Carter may be the most published character in American fiction. By the time radio got a hold of him, the character had evolved into a private investigator. Starring Lon Clark (right) for the whole series.

I'll look a little at the history of this pulp character and the strange ride he took over the last 100 years! This week's episode: The Echo of Death.

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This week a look at one of the longest running detective series on radio. Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was in some ways not much more than a light drama produced by the soap drama factory of Frank and Anne Hummert. Yet, it had its share of crime and death. It was also extremely popular in its day and often remembered by many youngsters who listened to radio at the time.

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This week I am returning to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. It was a different series during the Edmond O'Brien (right) years - a radio noir! I'll look at O'Brien's role in the series.

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Jeff Regan was known as the "Lyon's Eye," a private investigator who worked for Anthony J. Lyon. Regan was fleshed out on radio by the young Jack Webb who portrayed a number of detectives on radio including his most famous - Sgt. Joe Friday. I'll look at the career of the young Webb and play an episode called "The Prodigal Daughter." Plus a clip from Webb's only comedy show on radio.

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This week’s podcast of the Casebook of Gregory Hood began as a summer replacement for Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood was a dealer in antiquities who happened to also be a crime solver. Written by Denis Green and Anthony Boucher, it even sounded like their Sherlock Holmes series. It starred Gale Gordon (right).

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Michael Arlen was the English fictional voice of the Jazz Age. In 1940, he wrote one short story that was intended to be his foray into crime writing. That one short story spawned at least 9 Hollywood films, several radio series and a short-lived television series. This week we take a look at Arlen's creation of The Falcon!

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This week a woman attorney who spends more time solving the crimes she is asked to defend than she spends in the courtroom. Mercedes McCambridge (right) stars as Martha Ellis Bryant!

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This week a look at the police investigator instead of a private one. The series is from a late thirties syndicated series that was sponsored by True Detective Magazine.

Philo Vance was the creation of author S.S. Van Dine. He proved to be a popular detective as nine films were based on the character and three radio series.

This week a look at all three radio series with a complete episode from the final one starring Jackson Beck as Vance.

A lesser known detective husband and wife team. The Abbotts first appeared 1945 on radio, but none of those episodes are known to exist. In 1955 a new version appeared called "The Adventures of the Abbotts" but until recently only one episode was known to exist. Recently all 13 episodes have re-surfaced and you'll hear one of the new one's here in this podcast. Claudia Morgan (right) starred as Jean Abbott and Les Damon as Pat.

This week - a look at probably the most well-known "media" detective - film, radio, fiction - Sherlock Holmes. You'll hear some of the history of the radio programs over the years it was broadcast and a rarer episode from the earliest known copy - 1933 with Richard Gordon as Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson.

A look at radio detective Dan Holiday - Alan Ladd - from Box 13. "Adventure Wanted. Will go anywhere. Do anything. Box 13." The series was produced by Ladd's Mayfair Productions.

Finishing up our look at the radio detective career of Dick Powell I turn to his role as Richard Diamond, "the singing gumshoe." By this time Powell had reinvented himself from "boy crooner" to tough detective both in film and radio.

The first of a two podcast look at how Dick Powell began to reinvent his image from boy crooner into movie and radio tough guy. Tonight I look at the first of his radio series in his new image - Richard Rogue in Rogue's Gallery.

Continuing our look at the radio career of Jack Webb, I look at an earlier series in which Webb starred - Pat Novak For Hire.

UPDATE: The previous feed for this podcast was defective. I have corrected the problem!

A return to detective author, Dashiell Hammett, and his last fictional creations - Nick and Nora Charles in The Adventures of the Thin Man. The series starred Les Damon (see photo) and Claudia Morgan.

I return once more to Dashiell Hammett's only fictional detective created exclusively for radio! Brad Runyon, the Fat Man. "The hard boiled, hard hitting adventures of a criminologist who tips the scale at 247 pounds..." J. Scott Smart stars in the episode called "The Nineteenth Pearl."

This week we look at one of the more unusual radio detectives who not only uses deductive reasoning in solving crimes, but who also uses elements of the mystical. The pulp fictional detective Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow. This episode is from the Orson Welles year.

A look this week at probably one of the most famous detective/cop radio shows ever and the man behind it all. The facts: Dragnet is the show; Jack Webb is the creative force. An early episode from the run starring Webb as Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough as Ben Romero.

Another great pulp magazine detective is featured on this week's podcast. This time - Brett Halliday's Michael Shayne, in the New Adventures of Michael Shayne. Running time: 30 minutes

The Radio Detective Story Hour looks at radio's cops and robbers. We interview Martin Grams Jr., author of many books on old time radio including 'Gang Busters: The Crime Fighters of American Broadcasting' and listen to an episode from the series: 'The Case of Bielanski and Tilotson'. Running time is about 60 minutes.

"The Radio Detective Story Hour visits once more with Bob Bailey, this time in his long running series as George Valentine in Let George Do It. This week's episode is 'Death in Blue Jeans.' Running Time: 35 minutes."

Radio Detective Story Hour has an exclusive interview with Jack French, author of the Agatha Award winning "Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives" and ends with probably the best of the female detectives: Candy Matson in "The Cable Car Case." Running time: about 60 minutes.

The Adventures of the Saint. We look at Leslie Charteris, Simon Templar, and its appearances on radio, television and film. This week's episode: The Color Blind Murder on Shipboard. Total running time: about 31 minutes.