Bob Bailey on screen

3 actors who played radio detectivesOutside of radio, Bob Bailey of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar fame did appear in movies occasionally. A somewhat obscure film from 1944 called The Eve of St. Mark in which Bailey portrays Cpl. Tate. He can be seen in this video clip which I’ve joined together with another from earlier in the film. His voice is distinctive and you should recognize him.

I am also including a still shot from the same film in which actors who portrayed radio detectives also appeared in the film. Can you find them? In the foreground right is Harry Morgan who was on Dragnet, to his right is Bailey who was Johnny Dollar, and in the rear slightly left of center is Vincent Price, who was the Saint.

Click below to view the film clip. Bailey is the poker player on the left and later the guy shouting orders.

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 250 – The Saint

Leslie CharterisWith the publication of a new book – The Saint on Radio by Ian Dickerson, I take another look at this “Robin Hood of Modern Crime.” Some newer information comes to light with this publication.

A creation of writer Leslie Charteris (left), The Saint was possibly the only fictional character to be featured in virtually every entertainment media: from film, radio, television to comic books.

Some have determined their were possibly five iterations of the character of Simon Templar over the course of the books. I look at how those iterations fit into the radio character and spend some time on the 1995 British version.

Thanks to Neville Teller and Jeffrey Richards. Clip from The Saint Overboard, copyright BBC, 1995.

Music under is British Dance Band music including:

Roy Fox & His Orchestra – Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries – vocal by Al Bowlly

Sidney Kyte & His Orchestra – Guilty – vocal by The 3 Ginx

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 249 – Calling All Cars

Sgt. Jesse Rosenquist Police Radios were a new technology in the 1920s, and by 1933 were pretty much a technology that had definitely improved the ability of the police to combat crime more effectively. Radio Drama loved the new technology as it opened up new ideas in the depression years to improve the image of police versus the criminals. Mythic criminals such as Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde found the police on the less popular side as media made profits glorifying the exploits of these criminals. The police radio would figure largely in helping break down that mythic wall as it became much clearer that the likes of Dillinger and others were really just killers at best.

Calling All Cars had one recurring character and he was a real life one – Jesse Rosenquist (right) is the actual police dispatcher heard at the beginning of each episode. This podcast will look at how the series impacted the cultural aspect of society.

Music under is Beethoven’s Trio in D Major, the Allegretto.

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 248 – Sorry, Wrong Number

Agnes Moorehead at microphoneFor fans of old time radio, Sorry, Wrong Number with Agnes Moorehead (right) is one of the best dramas to listen to. After all, it was repeated on Suspense due to popular demand eight times; but as a radio drama, it is also a finely crafted, well executed piece of radio production ever heard and perhaps a lesson to those who want to produce audio drama.  While she is essentially, the only character (there are other voices in small roles), there is also a hidden character in the sound effects.  What will be immediately apparent is the lack of musical bridges as the sound effects carry this production heightening the tension instead of the music.

I examine this production and also mention the blooper that occurs at the end of this particular broadcast. It is an episode worth a listen.

Music under is Matthew Stone playing solo sax on Cry Me a River.

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 247 – Rocky Jordan

Jack MoylesThe character of Rocky Jordan went through a transformation of sorts over the history of its run. For all, but the third run, actor Jack Moyles (left) portrayed Rocky.

It began its life as A Man Named Jordan in 1945 as a 5-times-a-week 15 minute serial running at one point during the so-called “Children’s Hour.”  This series while very good, was more fashioned after Casablanca where Rocky owned the Café Tambourine in Istanbul. Rocky, like Rick Blaine from Casablanca was a patriot who ran his café during the war, but seemed involved in nefarious businesses and get-rich schemes.

Then the series left the air and returned with new writers as a one-time-a-week 30 minute series.  The Café Tambourine was now in Egypt in Cairo and Rocky seemed more involved in crime solving helping his police friend Sam Sabaaya.  I have two episodes this time, one from each series which illustrate both the writing as well as the nuances of the character.

Music under is Dream by Mohamed Rouane.

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 246 – Dragnet

Jack Webb Love or hate the radio series Dragnet, there were moments of brilliance in the series. Often Webb was a master of production, especially sound effects. The early Dragnet episodes were some of the best with much action and excellent sound effects.

Sound effects could make some of the episodes positively sizzle and I present one here that has some great audio portions in which the sound patterns make the episode rise above the others.

Music under is Ron Helman Jazz Ensemble playing “Old Folks”

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Website Woes

I am a victim of my own success, I guess.

When I began this podcast in 2005, I was posting regular episodes weekly. I had no problems with my Internet Service Provider as people downloaded or listened online.

Then I started advertising on Twitter alerting listeners to new episodes. And fairly quickly the number of downloads increased exponentially and suddenly I was running up against bandwidth issues that I was told should not be an issue. Over the past couple of years, my ISP has ramped up advertising their services and are seeking more users to sign up. I think this is when the bandwidth changes began. In fairness, they are not a site like Libsyn, which is oriented to podcasters and not simply individuals and businesses who want to have a web presence.

At certain times when a new podcast comes out, I have surges of people downloading and the bandwidth usage begins to slow down their servers, or so I am told.

So I am in the process of moving the audio to libsyn while retaining the web site interface on my current ISP, who I do like (despite my concerns). Only recently I started adding a few ads on the main page which does bring some revenue, but for the most part my site is ad free. Consequently, I rely on both the few ads from Google and any donations. Running these sites do cost and adding libsyn increases my costs. And so all of this switchover will take time, so that means the episodes will slow down for a while due to some of the restrictions I am running into.

Thanks for listening and staying nearby.

Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 245 – Adventures of Mike Shayne

Wally MaherDuring the decade of the 1940s Private Detectives on radio made a decided turn from the lighter, somewhat cozy fictional character such as Ellery Queen, Nero Wolfe and Sherlock Holmes to the more hardboiled versions of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and others. Just why this occurred is examined in this podcast along with an episode of Michael Shayne BEFORE the switch.

Music under is Kenny Barron performing “Little Niles.”

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 244 – Johnny Dollar – Stripped Bare

Edmund O'BrienWithin the world of radio detectives, including those based upon fictional detectives, we rarely got to know much about the detective himself. When you think about those you might have heard, you could ask yourself the question – just who is Sam Spade, or Philip Marlowe, or Richard Diamond and others? We hear them think through monologue as they work, sometimes we get a sense of interest in others, but rarely anything that touches their personal lives. Just who are these people?

A look at Johnny Dollar stripped bare and exposed as a human being.

Music under is Blood Count by Billy Strayhorn and performed by Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges.

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Radio Detective Story Hour Episode 243 – A Crime to Fit the Punishment

Clayton CollyerThis time we hear again from the script writer voice of Ken Crossen who wrote many scripts for a number of suspense and mystery thriller series including this one from the Molle’ Mystery Theater in 1944. Crossen was also a well-known pulp and mystery fiction writer under the name of M.E. Chaber, whose Milo March series were best sellers.
This episode stars Clayton Collyer, who was portraying radio’s Superman at the time while performing in other series. Collyer portrays Jonathan Pierce, and antiques dealer and amateur criminologist who is called in to help solve a crime. All in all, a lighter mystery but a good plot with well-developed characters.

Music under is Sonny Criss playing Billy Strayhorn’s “Day Dream.”

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  • Jim Widner

  • Jim Widner

  • A former educator and current radio historian, writer and big fan of detective, suspense, and mystery fiction.