Something a little different this time from the Radio Detective Story Hour. While this drama involves crime and deception, it is more about the excellent drama it presents. The story is one in which in the late thirties Americans were connected to each other through the “wired” device of the telephone. With the coming of radio, listeners shared a collective… (more…)
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In a mood of serendipity, we honor of Dana Andrews January 1st birthday and the completion in late December 1941 of Vera Caspary’s novel of crime and romance – Laura. Dana Andrews was born Carver Dana Andrews in Mississippi. He headed west to try to make his mark as a singer in popular and operatic music. In Laura he portrayed… (more…)
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In the spirit of Christmas, I offer this Christmas episode of Casey, Crime Photographer from 1947 starring Staats Cotsworth as Casey. The introduction is brief and if you want more history on the show, look for podcasts 41 and 110 or search for “Crime Photographer.” Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year. We’ll be back right after the New… (more…)
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A very powerful moral tale reminiscent of our society even today. The place is the room of the Night Editor of a tabloid newspaper as we meet young Dr. Lundgren and what has happened to his career due to a piece in the newspaper. I found this to be very engrossing and surprisingly violent for the period of production –… (more…)
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Though there are some who think the Eno Crime Club from 1931 is related, there is no connection between the Doubleday Crime Club imprint and that radio program. In 1946, the Mutual Broadcasting Company purchased a radio package from Doubleday given them permission to adapt certain Crime Club imprint books for radio drama and to use its name for new… (more…)
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One usually does not think of Ray Bradbury as a writer of crime stories, but in his early writing career when he was trying to sell stories to various pulp magazines, he gave crime fiction a chance. One such story was called “Autopsy” on his manuscript, but was published in Detective Tales magazine and the title was changed to “Killer… (more…)
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A previously uncirculated copy of an episode from the radio series, The Adventures of Sam Spade, has surfaced. The copy appears to have been hiding right in front of most eyes but was not in general circulation. It is called “The Dead Duck Caper” from February 2, 1947 and stars Howard Duff as Spade and Lurene Tuttle as Effie. Back… (more…)
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One of author Cornell Woolrich’s dominant noir themes was that of the avenging angel or “l’ange noir.” In this podcast, I look at that theme, how the author came to it and offer a selection from the radio series Suspense called “Angel Face” in which the theme emerges. Many of Woolrich’s noir stories feature some variation of this “black angel”… (more…)
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Normally known for her “Lord Peter Wimsey” detective novels, Sayers was an expert in creating short stories which could touch our psyches and take a “whodunit” and find us asking ourselves, “Who Is It?” She also wrote a series of short stories about a salesman cum detective whose name is Montague Egg. These stories came after the story presented in… (more…)
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