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… (more…)
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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.
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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… (more…)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.… (more…)
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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… (more…)
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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… (more…)
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