Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Prisoner Of The Night (Aired July 24, 1947) The final Radio Reader's Digest show was broadcast on 3rd June 1948, with the now vacant radio slot being filled the following week with the launch of The Hallmark Playhouse, which although followed the same format, was a huge break from the Radio Reader's Digest because the stories were adapted from literary best sellers, with some stories that were obscure such as the leprechaun tales in O’Halloran’s Luck by Stephen Vincent Benet - rather than the true stories from the Reader's Digest magazine, such as The Baron of Arizona, the story of a man who actually convinced the United States Government that he owned the state of Arizona. Conrad Nagel hosted the Radio Reader's Digest series until December 10, 1944 and also played a character in some of the stories that Reader's Digest provided. Other hosts included Quinton Reynolds, Richard Kollmar, and Les Tremayne. Stars for the shows on The Hallmark Playhouse included Irene Dunn, Bob Hope, Gregory Peck and Lionel Barrymore. Show Notes From RUSC.Com. THIS EPISODE: July 24, 1947. CBS network. "Prisoner Of The Night". Sponsored by: Hallmark Cards. The greatest French detective solves the most difficult murder of his career. Roger De Koven, John Nesbitt, Tom Shirley (host), Fred Uttal (announcer), Lyn Murray and His Orchestra. 31:03. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Mr. & Mrs. North - Murder Mismanaged (Aired March 18, 1952) Mr. and Mrs. North was a radio mystery series that aired on CBS from 1942 to 1954. Alice Frost and Joseph Curtin had the title roles when the series began in 1942. Publisher Jerry North and his wife Pam lived in Greenwich Village at 24 St. Anne's Flat. They were not professional detectives but simply an ordinary couple who stumbled across a murder or two every week for 12 years. The radio program eventually reached nearly 20 million listeners. The characters originated in 1930s vignettes written by Richard Lockridge for the New York Sun, and he brought them back for short stories in The New Yorker. These stories were collected in Mr. and Mrs. North (1936). Lockridge increased the readership after he teamed with his wife Frances on a novel, The Norths Meet Murder (1940), launching a series of 40 novels, including Death takes a Bow, Death on the Aisle and The Dishonest Murderer. Their long-run series continued for over two decades and came to an end in 1963 with the death of Frances Lockridge. Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin had the title roles in the Broadway production Mr. and Mrs. North, which ran 163 performances at the Belasco Theatre from January 12, 1941, to May 31, 1941.

Run Until Dead (Aired November 14, 1949) Bob Bailey played George Valentine as a detective handy man, who got his jobs from responses to a newspaper ad. Part-time detective and writer Dan Holiday in Box 13 also used the premise. It pays to advertise! The shows follow the usual formats of crime caper shows, with toughs, mysterious rendezvous and people who aren't who they say they are. Francis Robinson first played Brooksie, then Virginia Gregg took the role through its best years. Both ladies played Brooksie smart and sassy. Brooksie took every occasion to make it clear to George that the case he was the most off base on was the "Case of the Missing Engagement Ring." In the late '40's, an organist was used for the scene transitions, and sound effects were fairly minimal, as the show was loaded with snappy patter. In the 1950's, the music turns orchestral, and the production values are a little more thorough. THIS EPISODE: November 14, 1949. Mutual-Don Lee network. "Run Until Dead". Sponsored by: Standard Oil, Chevron. A known racketeer named Eric Suderman has appeared before the Grand Jury and not been indicted. After Atkins, a witness against the racketeer mysteriously dies, "Old Ironjaw," the prosecutor disappears! Bob Bailey, Frances Robinson, Lawrence Dobkin, Bill Bouchey, Will Wright, Byron Kane, Frank Hale, Eddie Dunstedter (music), David Victor (writer), Don Clark (director), Bud Hiestand (announcer), Jackson Gillis (writer). 30:57. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Hell On Ice (Aired August 9, 1946) Orson Welles made dramatic radio history with his Mercury Theater Of The Air, which started life as a Summer series in 1938. It continued into the Fall and ran until December 4, 1938. After that, Campbell's became sponsor, changing the name to The Campbell Playhouse, which ran from December 9, 1938 to June 2, 1939. All shows were one hour long. On September 15, 1941, The Mercury Theater title again graced the airwaves, for a run of 20 shows. On June 7, 1946, The Mercury Theater made one last appearence on radio. This was for a Summer series, The Mercury Summer Theater. Unlike the 1938 Summer series, these shows were only 30 minutes in length. Compare titles to the other Orson Welles series. Six shows were 30 minute versions of shows of 1938. "I'm a Fool", one story of two in the broadcast of August 23, was also used in 1938. A total of 15 shows were broadcast. THIS EPISODE: August 9, 1946. CBS network. "Hell On Ice". Sponsored by: Pabst beer. Network, sponsored version. The story of the arctic expedition of Captain DeLong, trapped for over two years in the northern ice pack. Orson Welles announces that this is a revival of a program first produced eight years ago. Orson Welles (host, producer, performer), Jimmy Wallington (announcer), Elliott Reid, Lurene Tuttle, John Brown. 29:08. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Circus Is In Town (Aired April 25, 1951) The series lasted only one season. The regular cast consisted of Harold Peary, Gloria Holiday, Peary’s wife, who played Gloria, Joseph Kearns as Old Doc ‘Yak Yak’ Yancy, Mary Jane Croft and Parley Baer. The announcer was Bob Lamond. The series was directed by Norman MacDonnell. Writers for the series were Harold Peary, Bill Danch, Jack Robinson and Gene Stone. Music was by Jack Meakin. The last show aired on June 13, 1951. The director of the show was Norm MacDonnell, who went on to create perhaps the greatest old time radio show - Gunsmoke, and another western, Fort Laramie. Of course, Norm was a sold radio veteran who certainly had a flare for directing comedy, so he and Peary, together with an excellent cast, made The Harold Peary Show just about as good a show as it could be. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. THIS EPISODE: April 25, 1951. CBS network. Sustaining. "The Circus Is In Town". Harold sings, "If I Could Lay Beside A Babbling Brook." Harold Peary, Gene Stone (writer), Jack Robinson (writer), Jack Meakin (composer, conductor), Norman Macdonnell (director), Gloria Holiday, Joseph Kearns, Jane Morgan, Parley Baer, Stuffy Singer, Sammy Ogg, John McGovern, David Light (as a goat), Bob Lemond (announcer). 29:30. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Big Scrapbook (Aired April 26, 1953) The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program’s format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday’s deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as "a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring." (Dunning, 210) Friday’s first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows. THIS EPISODE: April 26, 1953. Program #201. NBC network. "The Big Scrapbook". Sponsored by: Chesterfield, Fatima. Three robbers pull a jewelry store job in San Diego and get away with $135,000 worth of hot ice. The show receives an award on the air from a Detroit policeman. Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, John Robinson (writer), Walter Schumann (music), Eddie Firestone, Art Gilmore. 29:18. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Murder Of Gregory Hood (Aired June 17, 1946) The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Gale Gordon in the title role, took over where Sherlock Holmes had left off. Sponsored by Petri wine, it used the same "weekly visit" format and the same team of Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green that had written The New Adventured of Sherlock Holmes. Gregory Hood was modelled after true-life San Francisco importer Richard Gump, and many of the stories revolve around a mystery surrounding some particular imported treasure. Hood's sidekick Sanderson "Sandy" Taylor was played by Bill Johnstone. The show aired from June, 1946 through August, 1950. There were an additional couple of shows aired in October 1951. Hood and Sanderson were played in later episodes by Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, respectively. THIS EPISODE: June 17, 1946. Mutual network. "The Murder Of Gregory Hood". Sponsored by: Petri Wines. Gregory Hood pretends that he's been murdered and then tries to find his own killer! The system cue has been deleted. Gale Gordon, Harry Bartell (announcer), Dean Fosler (composer, conductor), Denis Green (writer), Anthony Boucher (writer), Art Gilmore. 28:39. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Tape Recorder (Aired April 23, 1950) Our Miss Brooks, an American situation comedy, began as a radio hit in 1948 and migrated to television in 1952, becoming one of the earlier hits of the so-called Golden Age of Television, and making a star out of Eve Arden (1908-1990) as comely, wisecracking, but humane high school English teacher Connie Brooks. The show hooked around Connie's daily relationships with Madison High School students, colleagues, and pompous principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), not to mention favourite student Walter Denton (future television and Rambo co-star Richard Crenna, who fashioned a higher-pitched voice to play the role) and biology teacher Philip Boynton ( Jeff Chandler), the latter Connie's all-but-unrequited love interest, who saw science everywhere and little else anywhere. THIS EPISODE: April 23, 1950. "The Tape Recorder" - CBS network. Sponsored by: Colgate Toothpaste, Lustre Creme Shampoo, Palmolive Soap. While Mr. Conklin is trying to economize, he finds himself buying a tape recorder, without even knowing it! Eve Arden, Al Lewis (writer, director), Jane Morgan, Richard Crenna, Gale Gordon, Gloria McMillan, Verne Smith (commercial spokesman), Jeff Chandler, Frank Nelson, Bob Lemond (announcer), Larry Berns (producer), Lester White (writer), Joe Quillan (writer), Wilbur Hatch (composer), Maurice Carlton (conductor). 34:45.

Munsey's Mob (Aired May 24, 1979) The Sears Radio Theater Series premiered on Monday 02/05/79 and offered a different genre each weekday night. Each genre was hosted by a different celebrity. The program was produced on Paramount's Stage F in Hollywood. These first 130 programs were broadcast over a six month period and then rebroadcast over the following six months. From 02/14/80 to 12/19/81 this series was heard again, this time over Mutual, as The Mutual Radio Theater. This was clearly one of the last big attempts to produce radio programming, with many of radio’s best talents, the way radio was heard in its “golden days.” Despite budget and talent, it just wasn’t to be. THIS EPISODE: May 24, 1979. Program #79. CBS network. "Munsey's Mob". Sponsored by: Sears Roebuck and Company. Barney Phillips, Byron Kane, Cecily Tyson (hostess), Daws Butler, Don Blakely, Fletcher Markle (producer, director, performer), Howard Culver, Jack Carroll, Joan McCall, Norman Alden, Ted Sherdeman (writer), Vic Perrin. 49:13. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Vienna (Aired June 22, 1951) CBS promoted this first run. Starring Herbert Marshall as Ken Thurston, a private operative, with Han Conried as Egon Zellschmidt in this first incarnation of Ken Thurston's nemesis, and Mary Jane Croft appearing in the role of Ken's love interest, Nancy Bessington, a reporter and Thurston's erstwhile fiance. We can only interpolate from what we've already turned up for this shortest run of The Man Called X, but it would appear that Hans Conried and Mary Jane Croft may have been regulars co-stars throughout that first season. One of Radio's most successful directors, William N. Robson, directed the first season of The Man Called X and though Gordon Jenkins appears to be credited with the music for the first season, Felix Mills is also personally cited by Herbert Marshall with at least one Music Direction credit--the season finale. Show Notes From The Digital Deli. THIS EPISODE: June 22, 1951. "Vienna" - NBC network origination, Nostalgia Broadcasting Corporation syndication. Commercials deleted. KCLE-FM, St. Louis aircheck. Ken Thurston travels to Austria to investigate the murder of the owner of the last free newspaper in Vienna. Herbert Marshall, Leon Belasco. 23:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Mystery Of The Blue Train Pt. 2 of 2 (1928) The novel's plot is based on the 1923 Poirot short story The Plymouth Express (much later collected in book form in the US in 1951 in The Under Dog and Other Stories and in the UK in 1974 in Poirot's Early Cases). This novel features the first description of the fictional village of St. Mary Mead, which would later be the home of Christie's detective Miss Marple. It also features the first appearance of the minor recurring character, Mr Goby, who would later appear in After the Funeral and 'Third Girl'. The book also features the first appearance of Poirot's valet, George. The Times Literary Supplement gave a more positive reaction to the book than Christie herself in its issue of May 3, 1928. After recounting the set-up of the story the reviewer concluded: "The reader will not be disappointed when the distinguished Belgian on psychological grounds declines to suspect the arrested husband and, by acting on the suggestion of an ugly girl who consistently derides her preposterous mother, builds up inferences almost out of the air, supports them by a masterly array of negative evidence and lands his fish to the surprise of everyone".

Mystery Of The Blue Train Pt. 1 of 2 (1928) The Mystery of the Blue Train is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on March 29, 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00. The book features her detective Hercule Poirot. Poirot boards Le Train Bleu, bound for the French Riviera. So does Katherine Grey, who is having her first winter out of England, after having inherited a huge sum. While on board she meets Ruth Kettering, an American heiress bailing out from a marriage to meet her lover. The next morning, though, Ruth is found dead in her compartment, a victim of strangulation. The famous ruby, "Heart of Fire", which had recently been given to Ruth by her father, is discovered to be missing. Ruth's father, the American millionaire Rufus Van Aldin, and his secretary, Major Knighton, convince Poirot to take on the case. Ruth's maid, Ada Mason, says she saw a man in Ruth's compartment but could not see who he was. The police suspect that Ruth's lover, the Comte de la Roche, killed her and stole the rubies, but Poirot does not think he is guilty. He is suspicious of Ruth's husband, Derek Kettering, who was on the same train but claims not to have seen Ruth. Katherine says she saw Derek enter Ruth's compartment. This also throws suspicion on Derek when a cigarette case with the letter K on it is found.

The City At Your Fingertips (Aired July 20, 1950) Broadcast on NBC, Nightbeat ran from 1949 to 1952 and starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, a tough and streetwise reporter who worked the nightbeat for the Chicago Star looking for human interest stories. He met an assortment of people, most of them with a problem, many of them scared, and sometimes he was able to help them, sometimes he wasn’t. The scripts were excellent, given that they had to pack in a lot in a short time, and there was a good supporting cast, orchestra, and sound effects. ‘The Slasher’, broadcast on 10 November 1950, the last show of season one, has a very loosely Ripper-derived plot in which Stone searches for an artist. Supporting actors included Parley Baer, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Lawrence Dobkin, Paul Frees, Jack Kruschen, Peter Leeds, Howard McNear, Lurene Tuttle and Martha Wentworth. THIS EPISODE: July 20, 1950. "The City At Your Fingertips" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Wheaties. Randy Stone dials his phone at random and speaks to a woman about to be murdered by her insane husband. Barbara Dupar, William Lally (announcer), Frank Lovejoy, Frank Worth (composer, conductor), Jay Novello, Katherine Card, Larry Marcus (writer), Lurene Tuttle, Peter Leeds, Warren Lewis (director). 31:08. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Special Guests Are George Burns & Gracie Allen (Aired April 11, 1937) Mary Livingstone as his wisecracking and not especially deferential female friend (not quite his girlfriend, since Benny would often try to date movie stars like Barbara Stanwyck, and occasionally had stage girlfriends such as "Gladys Zybisco"); rotund announcer Don Wilson (who also served as announcer for Fanny Brice's hit, Baby Snooks); bandleader Phil Harris as a jive-talking, wine-and-women type whose repartee was rather risqué for its time; boy tenor Dennis Day, who was cast as a sheltered, naïve youth who still got the better of his boss as often as not (this character was originated by Kenny Baker, but perfected by Day); and, especially, Eddie Anderson as valet-chauffeur Rochester van Jones who was as popular as Benny himself. THIS EPISODE: April 11, 1937. Red network, KFI, Los Angeles aircheck. Sponsored by: Jell-O. Mary reads a letter from Mama. Kenny Baker sings, "Moonlight and Roses." "Special Guests Are George Burns and Gracie Allen" appear to plug their new show for Grape Nuts which is just starting. Another "Buck Benny Rides Again" episode: "Ready, Willing, and Lame." Jack Benny, Don Wilson, Phil Harris and His Orchestra, Mary Livingstone, Kenny Baker, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Harry Baldwin, Ed Beloin (writer), Bill Morrow (writer). 29:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Wild Bill Hickock" - The Gold Maker (Aired November 19, 1950) Guy Madison starred as Bill with Andy Devine as his sidekick, Jingles. (Now there’s a name you want to go through Hollywood with.) This Wild Bill Hickock was quick with his fists and a quip, but Jingles (dear god that nickname) got all his glory by using his immense girth to fight the bad guys. Jingles if you couldn’t tell was the comedic element in the series. And what is it with overweight sidekicks in westerns? See Cisco Kid’s partner, the jolly and rotund Pancho. The radio program lasted until 1954. The television show was started at the same time in 1951 and lasted until 1958. THIS EPISODE: November 19, 1950. Program #34. Mutual network. "The Gold Maker". Sponsored by: Kellogg's Corn Pops. A con-man is selling the secret of making gold. The system cue is added live, the date is approximate. Guy Madison, Andy Devine, Charles Lyon (announcer), Richard Aurandt (music), David Hire (producer), Paul Pierce (director), Parley Baer, Joseph Du Val, Fred Howard, Ralph Moody, Jack Moyles. 25:14. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.