A little heard series since only 3 episodes exist of actor Glenn Ford starring as detective for hire Christopher London. This was on the air briefly at the height of his popularity in film. The first episode of this short-lived series. Music under is Nicholas Payton with the theme from the film Chinatown.
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Often pilot episodes never make it to broadcast. Crime on the Waterfront starring Myron Wallace is one of those detective series that never saw the light of airtime. Coming before potential sponsors in 1949 just when television was getting wind in its sail, and given the plethora of radio detectives already on, Crime on the Waterfront never had a chance.… (more…)
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This time I look at a little known and rare radio program from 1942-1944 which focused on the newspaper reporter as detective. In this case, a female detective, Anne Rogers, who writes a column for a reputable newspaper. Anne finds herself involved in crime solving with the help of her foil Sgt. Flannigan. Scriptwriter was the noted Science Fiction writer,… (more…)
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Finally, I am back for a new podcast! Expanding the genre a bit to include crime in general, this week, a look at one of the better, but not so well known crime series in the fifties: Crime Classics. The series ran for 52 episodes only, but had the talents of Elliott Lewis (right) as producer/director, David Friedkin and Mort… (more…)
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Detective fiction is full of examples of the woman-as-detective theme throughout its history. While the majority of the fictional detectives were men, there are flattering examples in which female sleuths regularly sought out clues and ultimately solved crimes. In radio, on the other hand, female detectives were usually somewhat vacuous or treated with little respect. Radio did have its share… (more…)
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Night Beat was one of those radio series that came over the networks in the early fifties just as the medium was beginning to toll its death knell for dramatic network drama. Yet the quality of many of the shows from this period were some of the best produced by radio. This journalist as detective serial starring Frank Lovejoy, whose… (more…)
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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… (more…)
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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… (more…)
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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… (more…)
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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. I personally never really felt Raft was much of a radio actor. His onscreen persona is mostly… (more…)
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